


Finishing A Tempestuous Journey

by unnoun



Series: The Sea-change of fate [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: (because of Donald Duck), (kinda), (partially), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ancient Greece, Animal Abuse, Attempted Seduction, Awkward Crush, Awkward Flirting, Bath Houses, Bisexual Female Character, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Gen, Kairi gets her keyblade early, Menstruation, Multi, Non-Consensual Kissing, Novelization, Nudity, POV Alternating, POV Multiple, Pansexual Character, Partial Nudity, Public Nudity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-06-07 12:53:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6805372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unnoun/pseuds/unnoun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"This time, I'll protect you!" she had said, and when the blinding light had faded, and Sora was restored, she very slowly came to notice the sudden heavy weight gripped firmly in the palm of her hand.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Embracing Destiny (more like throttling it really)

They were surrounded.

 

Kairi looked at the Heartless swarming the entrance hall, slowly closing in. She glanced up, and, on the other side of the room, she saw the large dog-man ( _Goofy,_ her memory supplied) facing another group of the creatures. She looked to another corner of the hall, and saw the duck ( _Donald_ , she thought as she remembered all the arguments she... no, that  _Sora_ had) facing another group.

 

Remembering Sora, she looked at the small Shadow before her, with its scared posture and fidgeting, so unlike the rest of its kind, and those familiar skinny calves.

 

She looked at the encroaching horde, and saw them tense to leap.

 

She dove for the Heartless in front of her (her best friend) as she called its name. She felt the weight of the other Heartless close on her the moment she did so, and felt the darkness reaching for her heart (it was so cold, and so dark, and so  _wrong_ ) and she focused on thoughts of her childhood friend, the games they played, the adventures they had together, and, on instinct, she reached out, (with her heart and her soul and her mind and her light and her love) and felt, rather than saw, the explosion of light around her.

 

* * *

 

Kairi sat in a chair in the cockpit (Sora's chair, she knew) as Donald and Goofy and the chipmunks (Chip and Dale, her memories that  _weren't hers_ helpfully supplied) tried to plot their warp trajectory as the alarms blared to alert them about the encroaching enemy fighters. Sora was sitting on the floor in front of her, and they were both staring at the object balanced on her knees.

 

The handguard was shaped like a heart, with an ocean wave cresting against the shaft, and the teeth were made of flowers, and dangling from the hilt was a keychain with a token that looked remarkably like a Paopu Fruit, and it was, unmistakably, a keyblade.

 

'This time, I'll protect you!' she had said, and when the blinding light had faded, and Sora was restored, she slowly came to notice the sudden heavy weight gripped firmly in the palm of her hand.

 

"What do you want to call it?" a small voice softly asked, but causing her to jump anyway because of how intensely focused she had been.

 

Standing on Sora's shoulder was a small cricket in a waistcoat and tophat.

 

Sora blinked at the cricket, then startled back to focusing on Kairi as he stammered "O-oh! Uh, Kairi, this is-"

 

"Jiminy, I know," she interrupted before he could finish the introduction. "And I think it's called Destiny's Embrace."

 

* * *

 

 

They all stood in the small room in the empty house in Traverse Town, and Kairi tried to listen as the others recounted what happened, but got caught up in her own thoughts instead, at least until a familiar voice snapped her out of her reverie.

 

"Seal the keyhole, right," Sora said cockily. Kairi smiled at that. Some things never changed.

 

"Maybe. But no one knows what will happen once it’s sealed," responded the scarred swordsman ( _Leon_ ) in front of them.

 

"Well, we can’t just stay here!" Sora finally snapped. "We have to do something. I’ve got a friend back there."

 

"That’s right. You have one more friend to worry about," Leon said, reminding Kairi of their recent troubles. "Riku’s Keyblade must have been born of the captive princesses’ hearts—just like that Keyhole you saw."

 

At this, Leon looked at her, and Kairi stiffened before lifting her head high and meeting his gaze. 

 

"Of course, without Kairi’s heart, it remained incomplete. Once that Keyblade was destroyed, the princesses’ hearts should have been freed. Don’t worry, Sora. If anyone can save your friend, you can."

 

The ninja added, "And if he can't, it's a good thing we have a NEW keyblader on the case! Especially with all of these new tougher Heartless popping up all over the place. We almost lost you once, apparently, can't be so sure it'd work a second time."

 

At this, Kairi felt the need to speak up. "I knew it was you, even as a Heartless" she said to Sora. "I'll help bring you back from that as many times as it takes."

 

Sora seemed taken back by this and defended, "I don't plan on it happening again!" he pouted. "But... thanks."

 

"I thought the Keyhole would strengthen the darkness," Aerith mused. "I mean the darkness is strong, but still... It’s almost as if someone is holding the darkness back."

 

Leon looked at Kairi appraisingly. "Did you see the other princesses on your way out? Apparently Jasmine still hasn't gone back to Agrabah. I suspect the others are still in the castle too."

 

Kairi frowned at the suggestion. "I don't know any more than you guys do."

 

"...Alright."

 

Kairi waited for the man to say something else, but he simply stood as still and silent as the wall he was leaning against.

 

Suddenly there was a loud crash as the door slammed. Kairi jumped and looked around and saw that the room was suddenly emptier.

 

 _They left me?_ Kairi glanced at the room's other residents then back to the door.  _They left me!_

 

Summoning her keyblade, she opened the door and ran out into the streets. "Hey, wait! You jerk!"

 

* * *

 

She asked an old man behind the accessory shop ( _Cid, former owner of  the shop, knows a lot about Gummi and sells them now, doesn't like being called "Gramps"_ ) where they went, and he directed her to the Waterway. She ran there, following the route as if she knew it by heart, and, to her surprise, got there before Sora did. She saw a painting of a sun at the end of one of the passageways, when Sora swam in. She smiled at him as he approached, before looking back at the image.

 

"What a mysterious mural," she commented. "It’s almost hypnotizing."

 

She watched as he swam up at it, and was surprised when it changed into a a crescent moon, and an object emerged from the wall into his waiting hands.  

 

He walked back up to her with a determined expression on his face, like he had something to say. She smiled encouragingly in response.

 

"Let’s go back and join the others. We should rest up."

 

 _That sounds fine to me. The sooner we can get going, the_   _better,_ she thought. Aloud, she simply said "Okay".

 

She watched Donald and Goofy leave, and she started to as well, but glanced back at the mural as they passed by.

 

"A light at the end of the tunnel..." she mused aloud with nostalgia.

 

"Oh, your grandma’s story, right?"

 

She turned and gaped at him; how could he...

 

Oh. Yeah. Right.

 

"That’s right. We were together."

 

He grinned like he'd heard a joke. "You know what’s funny? I looked everywhere for you, but you were with me all along. Finally, we’re together, Kairi."

 

He walked closer, and clenched his fist in front of him. "Now, it's time to get Riku back."

 

She smiled at that, but with trepidation. "You think it’ll ever be the same again between us? Riku’s lost his..." she thought of the vision of Riku she had seen when he was fighting against himself, trying to protect her to the end, and almost didn't notice when Sora interrupted her.

 

"When I turned into a Heartless, you saved me, remember?"

 

She did. She didn't think she'd ever forget.

 

"I was lost in the darkness. I couldn’t find my way. As I stumbled through the dark, I started forgetting things—my friends, who I was. The darkness almost swallowed me. But then I heard a voice—your voice. You brought me back."

 

She didn't entirely know what she did. All she knew was that. The thought of losing him, of losing _both of them,_ and having to just  _move on_...

 

"I didn’t want to just forget about you, Sora. I couldn’t."

 

"That's it!" he said, startling her. "Our hearts are connected" he said, like it explained everything.

 

"And the light from our hearts broke through the darkness. I saw that light. I think that’s what saved me." He held his hand in front of his chest, as if he was trying to focus on his heart, trying to feel it.

 

"No matter how deep the darkness, a light shines within." She blinked at that. He only heard that story recently and he was already quoting it with ease.

 

"Well, let's go!" she interrupted before he could say something even  _more_ cheesy.

 

"You can't go" he said, and it was like he'd slapped her in the face.

 

"It's way too dangerous" he continued.

 

"But we've only made it this far by sticking together." she reminded.

 

"I can't protect you all the time!"

 

"And I can't let you go alone!"

 

"You'd just get in my-"

 

Before he could finish, they both heard Donald and Goofy coming back and calling after them.

 

"You kids done yet?" 

 

"Yeah, we need to tell Cid to install a new chair for Kairi."

 

Sora turned to gape at them at that. "But she can't-"

 

Donald pushed his finger ( _feather?_ ) into Sora's chest. "We're supposed to stick with the keyblade. And since there's two of you..."

 

"That just means we've got to follow both of ya" Goofy finished for him.

* * *

 

After a thorough dressing-down of Sora, most notably from Jiminy ( _"...Sora, this isn't just because she's a girl is it? Now, I may not be_ your  _conscience but I'm afraid I can't abide such immature sexism from such an otherwise bright young man..._ ") Sora and Kairi waited behind the Accessory shop as Goofy went shopping and Cid left to work on the Gummi ship under Donald's supervision.

 

Sora glanced at her, and decided this was as good a time as any to ask about something he'd been wondering about.

 

"...You know, this is the same spot as I was when I saw you hearing that story from your Grandma."

 

Kairi froze, then nodded. "Yeah, it is."

 

Sora paused, considered how to say this next part before going ahead. "...I don't think I ever met your grandmother."

 

Kairi nodded, and frowned. "You wouldn't have. She... never made it to the islands."

 

Sora's mouth gaped in shock. "You mean, you remember where you came from!?"

 

Kairi nodded slowly. "I used to live in Hollow Bastion."

 

It was Sora's turn to frown now. "So, I guess you're gonna stay with Leon and the others and go back home after all this is over?"

 

Kairi looked at him in shock, viciously shaking her head. "Of course not!"

 

Sora looked surprised at that, but pressed onward "But if you remember where you're from-"

 

"It doesn't matter where I'm from!" Kairi shouted. At Sora's silence, she continued. "I don't remember much now anyway. My real home is the island where we used to play."

 

"Or, wherever you and Riku are." She added with a blush, as an afterthought.

 

Sora blushed a little at that himself, and nodded. "Right." He said, looking up at the stars. "We can make a home out there anywhere we want!"

 

"You two lovebirds done picking out your drapes yet?" Cid called as he and Donald walked back. Goofy emerged from the Accessory shop's second floor (technically the synthesis shop) with a few bags full of unidentifiable items in his hands, frowning.

 

"Lovebirds? Love _birds_?!" Donald squawked. "Why I oughta!"

 

"Not you." Cid groused.

 

"It's still offensive!"

 

"I get enough of this from your nephews."

 

"You've been saying things like that around my  _nephews?!"_  

 

"I fixed your ship didn't I? Free of charge too. Why don't you get going, don't you idiots have things to do?" Cid finally snapped.

 

"Thanks" Sora called half-heartedly as they dragged Donald and walked away.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to thank [this post](http://sorceressrinoa.tumblr.com/post/64827793654/an-au-where-kairis-keyblade-comes-to-her) on tumblr that made me start thinking about the possibilities of this sort of AU, and I would also like to thank some of my friends who've helped me by letting me bounce ideas off them.


	2. A Homecoming of Sorts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"I don't have memories of it. Just... feelings. I know I can never go back to Homeworld, but it's hard. Not to have some feelings for where you came from. But it's fine! I have something different now. You know. You guys." _-Steven Universe__

After a short trip through a new wormhole near Traverse Town, a flight that was _relatively_ free of incident  _("...How come she gets to drive?" "Because_ she _doesn't fly us into every meteor we see!" "Gawrsh you guys, it's not a very long trip anyway...")_  they arrived back in Hollow Bastion, and disembarked at a basin of water rising upwards, the same place they'd started last time.

Waiting there for them, facing towards the castle, was the large horned beast in a purple cape that had saved them last time. Kairi wondered why he was there instead of the entrance hall they had last seen him, how strong the Heartless must have been to drive him out like that.

"Where's Belle?" Sora asked.

"Still in the castle" the Beast rumbled.

"Against her will?" Goofy wondered.

"No, I think she stayed for a reason" the Beast said. "The other princesses are inside as well."

"The last place I want to be is anywhere near that thing" Kairi said, shuddering as she remembered the _waves_ of darkness that seemed to pour from the crest when she'd awoken. "But I also feel like. Like I  _have_ to be there, if that makes any sense? Like I'm the only one that can stop it or hold it back."

The Beast seemed to be looking at her appraisingly for a moment, ( _judging her_ ) before he nodded. "You may need my strength. I’ll go with you."

 

* * *

 

 

When the others had started the treacherous climb towards the castle, Kairi was briefly left behind ( _...Maybe we should have gone to Neverland first, so I could glide like they can...)_ but eventually, with a little bit of teamwork,  _("Just pick me up and throw me, I'll be fine!")_ they all made their way to the castle gates.

 

They had barely stepped into the entrance hall before Heartless started appearing.

 

"Thunder!" Donald squawked, as he obliterated several of the smaller Shadows, (and also healed the staff-wielding Wizards) while Sora slid around the biting shield of a large faceless knight to slam his Keyblade between its shoulders.

 

Kairi, meanwhile, stood facing another of the knights. Its attention (or, rather, its shield's) seemed to curiously focus more on her keyblade than it did on her herself.

 

It had been a while since she'd been in a fight (in her own body, anyway) but there were a few reasons she didn't spar as much anymore, and one of them was that she did not in any way fight fair.

 

Another was that she didn't know how to hold back and Sora's dad couldn't afford to keep buying swords.

 

She held her keyblade in front of her with both hands and swung as hard as she could.

 

There was a crunch as the shield buckled under the force of impact, killing it and the knight instantly. Oddly enough, despite the knight vanishing the shield itself fell to the ground, gradually rolling to a stop. Aside from a deformed and broken nose, the shield seemed relatively unharmed, but it was clearly no longer alive, its eyes vacant and mouth still.

 

There was silence in the hall as her friends ( _and the Heartless!_ ) stared at her. Then the Heartless all simultaneously teleported away.

 

Goofy picked up the shield, and weighed it contemplatively for a moment. "Ya don't mind if I keep this, do ya?"

 

* * *

 

 Kairi stood next to the window in the library. She heard Beast reuniting with Belle upstairs, and didn't feel like listening to Belle repeat what Kairi already knew.

 

Instead, Kairi sat on the floor in front of the table where Kairi heard her favorite story from her grandma.

 

She tried to think about her life back then. And as always, the memories slipped away.

 

She remembered the story though. Everytime she's heard it.

 

She paused, as that thought reminded her of one of the earlier times...

 

 _She was surrounded by the red eyed creatures, some of them were blue, no, wait, purple? There was a boy, laughing cruelly, when suddenly he vanished. A girl, no,_ a  **woman**   _ran in and destroyed one of the creatures right in front of her. She was so_ **blue** , _her hair and her eyes and her clothes and her sword. She was the strongest and prettiest person Kairi had ever seen, and as she held Kairi back with one arm Kairi reached for that sword, wanting to have that same strength to be the same kind of person._

 

_Another person with the same kind of sword showed up, and._

 

_(...Was that a giant mouse?)_

 

 Kairi snapped out of the memory. _Was that just a dream?_ she wondered.  _Where was I, how did I get there, what was I doing?_

 

_How old was I? Did it really happen?_

 

"Whatcha thinkin' about Kairi?"

 

Kairi whirled around before she realized it was just Goofy.

 

Wait.

 

"You wouldn't happen to know any really big talking mice, would you?"

 

Goofy blinked. "...Did ya see the king somewhere!??"

 

There was a commotion upstairs, and Kairi answered as Donald came charging closer.

 

"I think I did once, but when I was little. It was somewhere on this world."

 

"Oh." Donald huffed. "So it wasn't when he went missing."

 

"Well, maybe it's still related!" Sora yelled from the top of the banister. "Maybe he came back here looking for something!"

 

"Maybe..." Donald said doubtfully.

 

"Only one way to find out!" Sora said. 

 

"Come on! We've got a keyhole to seal!"

 

 "Is he always like this?" Donald grumbled.

 

"Nope!" Kairi grinned. "Usually he's pretty lazy."

 

Donald trudged ahead of her, grumbling under his breath and, seeing an opportunity, she decided to take it.

 

"And y'know what?"

 

"What?"

 

"So am I!" she whooped as she lifted the duck up and sat him on her shoulders, running to catch up with Sora as he left the library.

 

"Race you!" she called as she ran past her best  friend, Donald squawking indignantly on her back and struggling to get away while also trying not to fall off.

 

* * *

 

 

The race lasted up until they reached the gondola across the front of the castle. Kairi was never as fast a runner as Sora or Riku, but she was better at climbing and the Heartless (mostly the Defenders, unused as they were to having their usual greatest strength ignored, the shadows and the invisible soldiers had no concept of fear, and the various flying heartless were agile enough to try to avoid getting hit in the first place) tended to give her a slightly wider berth, but kept getting in Sora and Goofy's way.

 

Unfortunately, when Kairi and Donald, (who had finally freed himself when she had stopped on the lift and started panting for breath, and smashed her foot with his hammer in retaliation) were almost halfway across, Sora reached the summon control for the gondola and it teleported back to the start, letting Sora and Goofy on.

 

"Wanna call it a tie?" Goofy suggested.

 

Kairi was still out of breath and couldn't answer when the Heartless (the Defenders clearly over their previous fear) attacked again.

 

"Kairi!" Sora shouted as she felt a soothing green light wash over her, reenergizing her in time to raise her keyblade to block a strike from a shield.

 

Before the snapping maw could reach her however, she felt a tug of  _something_ from her necklace as it shone brightly, and a bubble of light surrounded her seeming to daze the shield in pain as it crashed into the unyielding wall.

 

Siezing the opportunity, she surged forward with her barrier around her, attacks from other heartless bouncing off, as she crashed into the staggered knight. Finally, with her barrier no longer able to hold, she let it break apart into the Heartless around them and, seeing the initial Defender still standing, she leaped forward and her keyblade shined with her wishes as she slammed it into the knight's head.

 

Meanwhile Sora swung his keyblade forward as a shining pink field of magic rippled around him, destroying some of the Heartless outright and knocking a Wizard towards Donald, who crushed it with his hammer and then crushed it further with a black orb of gravity, smashing it with its own weight.

 

Finally, Goofy threw his shield at the last foe remaining, a Darkball, destroying it, causing it to disperse.

 

No more Heartless appeared, so the group relaxed their stances. They were almost there.

 

* * *

 

 

As they walked into the castle chapel, they found a small welcoming party waiting for them.

 

"What are you doing back?" the blonde woman in the white dress ( _Cinderella_ she knew, instinctively) asked Kairi.

 

"Yes, us being gathered together again risks reopening the keyhole when it gets resealed," the other adult ( _Aurora, and **wow** knowing that is creepy) _ added.

 

"My friend is in trouble. I won't leave him behind," Kairi stated resolutely.

 

"We don't have time for this!" Sora interrupted. "Where's Ansem!"

 

"Gone," Cinderella said.

 

"When the Keyhole appeared, darkness poured out of it. It swallowed Ansem, and he disappeared." Aurora added.

 

"Though Ansem is gone, the flood of darkness hasn’t stopped. We’re working together to hold it back." Cinderella explained. "Though I'm sure you already knew that."

 

"I cannot forget the look on his face. As the darkness engulfed him, he was _smiling_." Aurora trembled as she said this, and imagining it for herself made Kairi shiver with her own revulsion.

 

When she was finished contemplating how someone could _enjoy_ the darkness like that, she heard a commotion on the other side of the small room, as Sora approached the other three princesses, Alice, Jasmine and Snow White.

 

She planned to introduce herself to the two girls Sora had already met and heard more of their conversation as she approached.

 

"It’s all we can do just to hold back the darkness." Alice explained.

 

"I don’t even know how long we can manage even that." Snow White added with worry.

 

"Perhaps we can produce another solution" came a new voice.

 

Turning to the entrance, Kairi saw Belle with a book in her hand, accompanied  by the Beast, her hand in his claw.

 

_(We left him behind. Oops.)_

 

"In order to access Kingdom Hearts, Ansem needs a keyblade" the bookish girl explained. "A special keyblade, formed from seven hearts of pure light."

 

"You mean, us?" Alice asked.

 

"But then, why did he leave us here?" Cinderella wondered.

 

Sora crossed his arms in consideration. "Maybe he was so close to what he wanted he got in a rush and forgot all about it?"

 

"It doesn't matter." Belle said. "Either way, with all of us together like this, and, since you can use a keyblade of your own. I think I have a solution to prevent Ansem from getting what he wants."

 

Aurora frowned. "You can't be suggesting we make it willingly."

 

"The best way to ensure that Ansem can't get it is if we have it and know where it is and control it ourselves." Belle argued.

 

"Or we walk right into a trap and end up handing it over to him" Aurora said.

 

"What would happen to us if we did make it?" Snow White asked. "We were asleep before, would we sleep again?"

 

"A heart doesn't have to be in just one place at once" Sora said. "That's what friends are for. If home is where the heart is, then our friends are where our homes are."

 

"If you think about each other, if you don't forget each other..." Sora grinned easily and put his hands behind his head. "Your hearts will be one. I just know it."

 

The room was silent at this proclamation, until finally Kairi groaned. "Since when are you this sappy?"

 

"Hey!"

 

"I was there the first time you gave that speech you know."

 

"It's still true!"

 

"Children!" Cinderella firmly chided. "There's no need to fight like this."

 

"So how do we do this?" Snow White asked.

 

Belle considered it. "I don't know."

 

"Let's hold hands!" Alice declared like a queen. Before they knew it, everybody had done so.

 

"Just the girls!" At this, Sora, Donald and Goofy and Beast let go and stepped back, all varying degrees of sheepish.

 

There was a flash of light, and in front of Kairi, then in her hand, was a key. It was a very familiar key. The same one Sora had used, the same one that had freed her.

 

Kairi felt at once drained and reinvigorated by it as she held it in her hand, and as she looked around the room, she saw the other princesses seeming tired, and exhausted, but still standing and awake.

 

Maybe Sora rubbed off on her more than she'd admit, because she immediately reached in her pocket for the thallassa shell necklace she'd made back before all this started and held it in front of her as she declared "I promise, I'll keep us all safe, and make sure our power doesn't get misused." She reached her hand with the charm into the middle of the circle and like it was a sports game the other princesses put their hands on hers. "I promise I'll be back to see you all. We're friends. We'll be connected forever."

 

* * *

 

 

They were standing in front of the keyhole.

 

They had fought their way through the Grand Hall and.

 

It was wrong. Just  **wrong**.

 

 _How could this happen, who built this, why is it here, who did this to my_ **_home_ ** _?_

 

"Kairi." Sora called softly, snapping her out of her reverie.

 

"Let's go."

 

As they stepped through, they emerged into a shifting and churning void and saw a miniature version of that same crest as on the outside. A keyhole was clearly visible at the bottom of the crest's tail.

 

Then their attention simultaneously refocused to the enormous, thick-legged and large horned monster adorned with that same emblem. Standing between them and the keyhole.

 

Great.

 

It jumped and slammed into the ground, nearly crushing Kairi and still knocking her back. She got to her feet and swung at the large stumpy legs and found her weapon bounced off. The leg raised and she rolled out of the way as it came down again.

 

"Fire!" Donald shouted as he cast a fireball at the creature's chest. The attack bounced off harmlessly.

 

The creature's smallest horn on the top of its head started to glow, and when Sora leapt up to hit it the creature seemed to wince. "The horn! Attack the horn!"

 

"Force!" Donald yelled and the creature buckled as its horn was crushed and it fell, face crashing to the ground. Kairi leapt and attacked the horn as much as she could, and the others did the same. She could sense the creature's strength growing weaker, but she began to notice it struggling from its daze.

 

She was about to deliver one more hit when the creature got to its feet and unleashed a massive thunderstorm. Kairi was too close, and got blasted by the full shock of it.

 

She struggled to stay awake as she landed with a crash and rolled away and gulped down a potion as she pulled herself back to her feet.  The Behemoth's horn was glowing again brighter and brighter and suddenly it flashed and a storm of meteors fell down from the abyss above them, knocking out Donald and Goofy and forcing Sora to hide underneath the creature itself.

 

It was up to her. She summoned a barrier and charged towards the creature, meteors bouncing off her shield and towards the monster, and when she was close enough she let the shield break against the Heartless's horn.

 

It groaned and fell forward once more and as it did she struck the horn one last time, followed by an attack from Sora.

 

The monster was slain, and she watched as its heart vanished.

 

Before any of them had time to relax, they heard someone calling from outside.

 

"Sora, you did it." called a stoic and familiar man's voice.

 

"What do you mean Sora!?" a hyperactive young woman interjected.

 

"You're right. Donald and Goofy probably helped too." the man agreed.

 

"...Was that a  _joke!?"_

 

 _Where's he going?_ Kairi wondered as Sora left the dark depths.  _We still have to seal the keyhole!_

 

 _Fine._ She thought as she summoned her keyblade and turned towards the emblem.  _I'll do it. No. We will. If our hearts can show the way to kingdom hearts_ she thought as she felt her black and red keyblade  **pulsing** in her grip,  _then we can send it away too._

 

The tip of the key glowed for a moment, and a beam of light shot through into the keyhole. There was a click as the symbol vanished, and Kairi left the darkness behind to where the others were.

 

"This is our childhood home. We wanted to see it again."

 

"It’s in worse shape than I feared. It used to be so peaceful..." Leon said forlornly.

 

_(I know it was. I wish I could remember more.)_

 

"Don’t worry. If we defeat Ansem, all should be restored," Aerith said reassuringly. "Including your island," she added, to Sora and Kairi.

 

"Really?" the teens said at once.

 

"But, it also means goodbye," explained Yuffie.

 

"Once the worlds are restored, they’ll all be separate again," said Aerith.

 

"Everyone will go back to where they came from." Yuffie continued.

 

Sora shrugged. "Then I’ll visit you guys with the gummi ship."

 

Leon crossed his arms in front of his chest and Kairi sighed. _Oh, Sora._ "It’s not that simple," said the swordsman.

 

"Before all this, you didn’t know about the other worlds, right?" Yuffie reminded him.

 

"Because every world was isolated. Impassable walls divided them,"  Aerith said.

 

"The Heartless destroyed those walls. But if the worlds return, so will the walls." Yuffie finished.

 

"Which means gummi ships will be useless," Leon said.

 

Sora seemed to almost deflate at that. "So you’re saying we’ll never...?"

 

Leon thought about this for a second. "We may never meet again, but we’ll never forget each other."

 

Aerith nodded "No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again."

 

"Besides, I couldn’t forget you even if I wanted to," Yuffie said.

 

Sora pouted at that comment, in that (adorably) indignant way he usually does. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

 

"It means you're unforgetable," Kairi teased as she hugged him from behind.

 

It was probably for the best that neither teen could see the vibrant blush on the other's face, the adults (human or otherwise) silently agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Besides, I couldn’t forget you even if I wanted to,"
> 
> DRAMATIC IRONY!
> 
> (God it's going to be a while before I get to COM.)
> 
> (Next up! Neverland!)


	3. Just Believe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'They had rested as much as they could at Hollow Bastion, and talked to the Princesses and learned where Ansem was and what they needed to do, but our group of heroes found themselves oddly apprehensive. The knowledge that, after the worlds were restored, they wouldn't be able to see any of the people they'd met again. Well, it made them want to make sure they had no loose ends that needed tying up.' -Jiminy's Journal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "One thing I am sure of is that {the Heartless} are entirely devoid of emotion." -Ansem's Report 3
> 
> "Ansem": *writes self-insert slashfic about himself and kingdom hearts*
> 
> White Mushroom: *plays charades*
> 
> Rare Truffle: *looks into camera like its on the office*

"Isn't there something you want to tell me?"

 

"Huh?" Sora turned, confused. "What do you mean, Kairi?"

 

Kairi smiled as she spun around in her chair. "You visited all those worlds, and you didn't think of me in any of them?"

 

"You keep telling me you were there and knew what I was thinking," Sora said. "I even saw you, and you talked to me a few times! Why don't you tell me."

 

("...Are they fighting again?" "Leave 'em alone Donald, at least they aren't as bad as you and Daisy...")

 

"I just want to hear you tell me," Kairi said. "You seemed really excited, and I don't want to take that from you."

 

Comprehension dawned on Sora's face, and he smiled. "So, I might have learned how to fly," he said, in a tone that (he thought) was dripping with suaveness. "But it was no big deal, really."

 

"Really!?" Kairi said in mock surprise. Sora stared at her in response.

 

"Kairi, what are you-"

 

"I don't believe you,"  Kairi said, winking. "Show me."

 

* * *

 

 As they stepped onto the deck of the ship, they saw that it was covered in blue Heartless with yellow caps, that looked like large mushrooms. They kept hopping around, trying to get higher and higher.

 

Kairi stared at one of them as it hopped in place in front of her, staring expectantly back.

 

Kairi had seen them before of course. But they seemed different now, somehow, now that her perception wasn't filtered through Sora's, now that she was back in her own body.

 

They were definitely still Heartless. They still reeked of darkness, ( _literally? how does **darkness** have a smell?) _ but they were also definitely not malicious.

 

Still, when it started to get close to her she summoned her keyblade reflexively. The creature stared at it, then turned and wiggled its rump at her.

 

_Well, if that's what you want..._

 

She swung her keyblade at it in an upwards arc, like she was still playing golf with her mom.

 

The truffle went up into the air, and as it came back down again Sora flew up to it and smacked it in the side, sending it back towards her. They volleyed the excited creature back and forth laughing and giggling like this was just another of the games they used to play back on the beach.

 

"Hey Rik-" she called as she tried to "pass" the "ball" only to realize, mid-swing, that the person she was passing to wasn't actually there.

 

Sora was about to intercept the mushroom in its flight, but when he heard what Kairi started to say he faltered and stopped, causing the creature to land on its face. Not noticing the dour mood, it immediately got back up and started dancing around, rushing up to Kairi and shoving a pot of golden liquid, a badge shaped like a Matsutake, and a box full of an unidentifiable goo or slime at her before it hugged her and disappeared in a dark portal.

 

Sora landed and walked up to her, bending over to pick up the Heartless's gifts from where Kairi had dropped them, putting the megalixir and mystery goo in his pockets (he had a lot more than anyone else anyway) and, after some thought, pinning the badge to the front of Kairi's top.

 

"Sorry" she said.

 

Sora shrugged and tried to ignore the issue in front of them, ( _as usual)_ "Nah, the badge means we kept it up for long enough, it was done anyway-"

 

"Not for that."

 

"Don't worry. We'll get him ba-"

 

"Not for that either!" she shouted now. "I'm sorry he's gone in the first place, because  _it's all my fault!_ "

 

Sora stared at her for that declaration. Goofy seemed to be about to say something, before Donald elbowed him and dragged him below deck, "To find Peter and Tinkerbell" as Goofy protested "But what if we need to cheer her up, we can't fly without happy faces."

 

Sora sat on the edge of the deck, his legs dangling, and patted the spot next to him, inviting her to join. She sat down next to them and stared at the stars ahead.

 

"I knew what was up with Riku," she said. "I could sense the," she waved her hand vaguely, wishing there was another word "the **darkness** in him. Even if I didn't know what it was yet."

 

 _How_ do _I know what it is? How did any of the other Princesses? How can we sense it, how can we hold it back, without anyone actually teaching us?_

 

"For a while now, since we started working on the raft-no, before then. Since-"

 

"Since the day you met him?" Sora asked, causing her to flinch. "Since the day you..." Sora didn't want to finish it.

 

"I. I definitely started noticing it more recently." Kairi said. "At first I thought I was just worried about him. Which I was!" she clarified, glancing at her friend as he looked back at her- nonjudgmentally, thankfully, rather than skeptically.

 

"But eventually..." she began. "I think I started to get scared _of_ him. What he was willing to do to leave."

 

"And the problem is..." she gathered herself and took a breath and, finally, screamed.

 

"I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!" Sora jumped next to her, seemingly startled as she pressed onward. "For weeks, months, years! I kept quiet, and didn't say anything to him, or you, or our parents or..."

 

"...So that's what you meant." She glanced back at Sora, as he smiled at her sadly. "When you said Riku had changed."

 

She froze, and Sora reached around her shoulder, and she stiffened as he pulled her closer to his side.

 

Leaning against him, feeling the comfort of his contact like they were still little, she calmed her breathing, and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Yeah. And instead of doing anything to help Riku, I wanted to just run away."

 

She felt Sora shrug against her. "I probably would have tried to run away too." She glanced at him as he smiled at her. She smiled back, tentatively.

 

Until he waggled his eyebrows.

 

"And I thought you wanted us to run away together because of my _charms_."

 

She rolled her eyes and shoved him forward. Hard.

 

He laughed as he righted himself, floating up above the deck.

 

"Jerk," she huffed. "I try to open up and this is how you treat me?"

 

Sora grinned. 

 

"Hey! Your friend's all better!"

 

Kairi didn't have time to react when a boy in green flew right into her face. "Name's Peter!" he said, as he thrust a hand towards her chest, which she gripped firmly and shook the way she'd learned on her mom's campaign trails (not that it was all that much of a campaign).

 

Peter Pan backed away quickly after that, trying to chuckle and keep the pain out of his voice as he attempted to shake his wrist discretely. "Quite a grip you've got there."

 

A small glowing golden ball flew up to Kairi's face immediately afterwards, and, as she focused, she could tell that it was a small pixie, with blonde hair and ice blue eyes and a short green dress. Tinkerbell was staring right back at her, scrutinizing her. Kairi smiled weakly. "Hi, nice to meet you, Tink. Can I call you Tink?"

 

She slowly raised her hand and extended a finger towards the fairy, who seemed to only raise an eyebrow sardonically in response.

 

"We're here so Kairi can learn how to fly," Sora said.

 

"Didn't I give you a charm to summon her last time you were here?"

 

Before they could respond, Tinkerbell seemed to come to a decision and started flying around Kairi, leaving a cloud of gold dust in her wake. Kairi believed she would lift off the ground, so she did, feeling weightless and free. Tinkerbell grabbed Kairi's still outstretched finger and started tugging on it as she opened her mouth as if to speak, but all Kairi could hear was a high pitched jingling sound like bells or keys.

 

"What's that Tink?" Peter Pan asked. "What about the clock tower? You say there’s something there?"

 

The tiny fairy nodded vigorously and started flying off towards London, and Sora and Peter followed.

 

"What about Donald and Goofy?" Kairi asked. 

 

* * *

 

"Got any threes?"

 

"Go fish." A beak smirked behind a hand full of threes.

 

"You sure we should be leaving them alone?" the captain of the royal knights asked.

 

"Of course I'm sure!" the court magician answered. "Sometimes couples need space to iron things out. Trust me. I know _all_ about relationships."

 

Goofy frowned. "...Are ya sayin' I don't?" he said quietly.

 

Donald winced. "Sorry, I didn't mean ta-"

 

"I remember when my Maxie started dating around their age." Goofy continued, slowly raising his voice. "I have plenty of experience with being a chaperone to teenagers-"

 

"And Max wasn't going through what they are right now!" Donald squawked. "They've lost everything they know, and we may be the only adults around for them, but we aren't their parents!"

 

Goofy seemed to consider this for a second. "...I suppose you're right about that."

 

Donald nodded. "Of course I am! You may be a dad, but I'm an uncle. There are some things they need to work out for themselves right now."

 

The duck turned in his seat and put his cards down as he took a look at the readouts on the flashing console in the cockpit. "Besides, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near whatever's causing those Heartless readings the scanner's picking up."

 

Goofy considered this. "But Donald, what if it hurts the kids?"

 

Donald looked at Goofy, opened his beak to respond, then stopped, looked at the readings, then back at his friend. The two were immediately out of their seats and scrambling towards the ship's teleporter.

 

"WAAAAAAAAAGH!"

 

"YAAAAAAA-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOOEEEYYYY!!!"

 

* * *

 

 

 Kairi grinned and whooped as she flew over the water, soaring and spiraling and spinning as she experienced the freedom and exhilaration of the wind blowing past her.

 

"We're almost there!" Peter Pan called back to them, as she saw the city of London up ahead.

 

Kairi looked down as the ocean below turned into countryside, then into roads, then into a town, then into a city, and she looked ahead at the large clocktower, from which she could feel the world's heart, safe and sealed. She saw a light from the corner of her vision off to the side, and saw the moon, and stars, a large cloaked figure flying by and facing her, a few flocks of birds and  _wait what._

The cloaked figure flew ahead rapidly until it was between them and the clocktower. It seemed to just be a robe, with no face visible, and with only a pair of arms with massive claws.

 

The Phantom's hands started glowing as it traced a pattern in front of itself, and blue flames surrounded Peter and the clock faces on the sides of the tower, as a number 12 appeared over the lost boy's head. The hands of the clock tower started moving forward rapidly and a yellow glowing orb appeared beneath the robe where the spirit's legs would be. 

 

"Thunder!" Sora yelled causing bolts of electricity to arc down around them, seeming to injure the Heartless momentarily as its orb flashed white. Kairi flew forward, ducking under a swipe of the creature's claws as she swung her keyblade furiously into the orb until she felt her attacks repelled as the orb turned blue. She gritted her teeth and yelled "Freeze" as her keyblade froze over and she kept swinging.

 

Peter Pan crowed like a rooster and dodged around the Phantom swiping with his dagger as Tinkerbell fluttered furiously around him, trying to get his attention.

 

"Aw, don't worry about the clock-tower Tink, it'll be- Urk!"

 

The Phantom grabbed Peter Pan and held him facing the clock face, the hands on the clock and the number above him continuing to count down from 5.

 

Kairi blasted the red sphere ( _is that a heart inside_ it?) with fireballs as much as she could, to free Peter, as the unaging boy struggled and squirmed and seemed to grow paler and sweatier and more and more tired.

 

4.

 

"Wind" Sora casted, creating a barrier  around Peter Pan that buffeted helplessly against the Phantom's grip.

 

2.

 

"Peter Pan!" Kairi called as she tried to heal him with a cura spell to fix his injuries.

 

1.

 

Time was up.

 

Peter Pan fell unconscious, pale as a sheet and unmoving as the Phantom finally let go of him, letting him drop unceremoniously to the streets of London.

 

"Peter!" Sora called only for the Phantom to rush up and backhand him into the side of the clock. As he looked up, he saw the Phantom's hands glowing again. This time, the fire surrounded Sora, and the number 12 appeared above him.

 

Kairi yelled wordlessly and charged against the Phantom's weakness with a barrier around herself, the force of Phantom's strikes reflecting back into it no matter what colour it turned. Tinkerbell healed Sora as he struggled back to his feet, but as he tried to fly towards the apparition once more she got in his face and started waving frantically.

 

"Kairi needs my help!" Sora yelled as he tried to dodge around the fairy, who, frustrated, flew into his hood and dragged out Jiminy.

 

"Ouch! Hey, watch the coattails-"

 

"What are you doing!?" Sora yelled.

 

"I dunno, but get her off of me! Wait. I think. Oh, she's trying to say something about the Clocktower."

 

Sora turned to face the clocktower, the hands continuing to tick forward.

 

They were almost at midnight. Sora felt himself getting colder and more tired, more _drained_  by the second.

 

"Use Stopra she says!"

 

"Stop!" Sora cast, and the clockface froze in time, while Sora felt the sense of doom stop, at least for a moment.

 

"Sora!" Kairi called, "I need some help!"

 

"Kairi! Here!" he yelled as he tossed her an elixir. "The clock face! Its spell uses the clock face! You need to cast stop on the clock face!"

 

"Why are you telling me!?" she called as she kept attacking the creature's weakpoint.

 

"I don't think I have much time! When it starts up again, its up to you!"

 

"Sora!"

 

Sora grinned. "Sorry." The clock ticked one forward and Sora was out like a light.

 

Kairi started reaching her hand towards him, then glared at the Phantom, its hands already glowing. The moment she felt the flames around her she stopped the clock tower, then stopped the creature itself for good measure. She bent space around her and teleported as she slashed at the creature's sides, moving around it in a circle as she did. As she was about to finish her combo, the creature started moving again, and slashed her across her ribs, sending her back.

 

The creature's ball was red so she she enchanted her keyblade with fire and threw it at it, and as she saw it turned blue when she struck, she summoned her weapon back to her hand and enchanted it with ice before she tossed it again.

 

The creature seemed stunned by this, and it sat immobile in the air, its weakpoint white. Kairi heard the clock start ticking again behind her, and knew she didn't have much magic left in her. She would have to make this count.

 

She teleported above the creature, and surrounded herself in light as she came down again and again and again. She knew the creature didn't have much strength left in it, but as she was about to deliver what she judged to be the final blow, it rammed its hood into the crown of her head.

 

Kairi felt like she was about to pass out. In fact, she was sure that she had, for a moment. Then she felt consciousness return to her and as she awoke she saw Tinkerbell flying all around her.

 

Finding a last reserve of strength she stopped the clockface one last time, from farther away than she'd ever tried before then, and punched the Phantom right in the ball.

 

It shuddered and groaned, gripping its sides and essentially ripping itself apart as a heart emerged from it and it faded away.

 

Kairi grinned and held her fingers in front of her in a "V" as the edges of her vision darkened and she fell backward to the roofs below.

 

* * *

 

 

_"...I told ya we shouldn't have left 'em."_

 

Kairi groaned. Her head was killing her. Which was not helped by the incoherent squawking laced with the word "palooka" and other words at least as profane as what she might have heard from sailors down at the wharf.

 

"What happened, where are we?"

 

"Oh my, you're awake!" came a feminine voice from beside her, no above her? Kairi opened her eyes, and saw the face of a girl with brown hair looking down at her.

 

Kairi tried not to blush at the realization that she was in the other girl's lap. "Hey, Wendy. Nice to see you again"

 

"It's nice to see you again too Kai- oh!" Wendy smiled warmly, and Kairi knew she was definitely blushing a little now. "You remember me! I didn't think you were awake when we met earlier."

 

"I wasn't. It's a long stor-" Kairi stopped midsentence and gasped. "Sora!" she cried as she suddenly sat up, her forehead crashing into the other girl's chin.

 

"Ow!"

 

"Ouch!"

 

Kairi rubbed her forehead as Wendy rubbed her jaw, having thankfully not bitten her tongue. As Kairi looked around, she saw she was in a bedroom or nursery, with three beds and plenty of books and toys scattered around. Donald and Goofy were in one corner, still conversing but more quietly, while Sora and Peter played with a pair of little boys, all with bandages and ice packs around their heads. Based on the light bruising around Sora's face, it seemed like he and Peter had actually needed them, while the two smaller children were wearing them to look cool.

 

Something fell on Kairi's lap and as she turned her head down to look she realized she had her own head bandages, and as she examined the fallen object she realized it was a shingle, like one from the roof of a house.

 

And as she looked up, she saw three person shaped holes in the ceiling of the nursery. One about the size of a 14 year old girl, and two that were the size of a pair of 13-14 year old boys.

 

"Uh." Kairi caught Sora looking up at her as she turned back towards Wendy. "Sorry about your roof!"

 

"Don't mention it! I'm just glad you're alright." Wendy said as she placed her hand on Kairi's and, oh, Kairi  just knew her face was the same color as her hair now.

 

"...You want us to fix it for you?" Kairi said, trying to flex her biceps as subtly and not pathetically as she could, and, oh, she could just _feel_  Sora's smirk behind her and knew that she would never hear the end of this.

 

Wendy seemed to consider this for a moment then shook her head, smiling. "No, I'm sure you four have a lot to take care of. Peter Pan" Wendy blushed herself at this, dashing Kairi's hopes "and Tinkerbell can stay and help. You're not busy, are you?" Wendy asked.

 

Peter stared, then glanced at Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell seemed about to say no, until she glanced at a music box by the windowsill and began to nod instead. Peter shrugged.

 

"Sure. I can even have the Lost Boys come help." Wendy seemed to wince at this, but nodded in agreement.

 

"Right." Sora said as he approached, an arm around Kairi's shoulder and a something-eating grin on his face. "You two take care now!"

 

Tinkerbell flew up to Sora and the two stared for a long moment before Sora gulped and nodded. "Right. You three, I mean." Kairi felt Sora heat up at the mention of the word three, and knew she was flushing herself a little now. Tinkerbell nodded at this, satisfied, then extended her pinkie and thumb in a shape like a phone and put her hand to her ear. "Right. And we'll call you again when we need you. Thanks!"

 

"No." said the small boy with glasses. "Thank you for saving our sister."

 

"And stopping that big monster!" chimed his little brother.

 

"No problem." Kairi said.

 

"It's what we do." Sora added.

 

"We're heroes." bragged the duck.

 

"Uh, don't ya mean junior-"

 

* * *

 

 

Back aboard the ship, Sora was grinning at her in a way she'd never liked. "And you say _I'm_ bad at flirting with girls."

 

"You are!" Kairi retorted, flushing.

 

Sora shrugged at this, then grinned wickedly. "Right. Sure. So, when do you wanna go meet Ariel?"

 

Darnit. So he figured out that the heart fluttering he'd had around the mermaid hadn't been _his_ heart _at all_.

 

"Shut up!" she yelled, and oh, now she was crying a little, and Sora saw it and immediately his gaze softened with guilt. "Hey, Kai, I'm sorry I was just teasing-"

 

"No! It's fine." She put her hand on his and smiled. "Really."

 

Sora looked at their hands then nodded. "Well, at least you've got someone even worse at flirting with girls than you."

 

This time it was Kairi's turn to smile wickedly as she took her other hand and cupped Sora's cheek, causing him to be the one to turn bright red for once. She leaned in and said "You're right," whispering breathily.

 

"I _do_ have Riku."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reference to Kairi's mom was based in part on [Found And Lost](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1015621) by Crysiana, which is one of my favorite Kairi headcanons/fics. It's so good. So much better than my trash. Go read it. All of you. Yes, that means you.
> 
> The games say that Kairi was adopted by the mayor of Destiny Islands, but nobody said the mayor has to be a dude.
> 
> Uh, I guess I don't have Crysiana's permission, sorry? But I'm giving credit, and it's not like I have Nomura or Walt Disney's permission either, so.
> 
> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	4. Disappeared

The moment they teleported into the Chapel, Kairi knew something was wrong.

 

"What's that portal?" Sora asked, as the other princesses approached.

 

"They don't know" Beast said. "It appeared a short while ago."

 

"I sense a presence coming from that gate... But it’s not darkness" Aurora said. "It’s another power altogether. It may be even more dangerous than darkness."

 

"We could suppress the power if it were darkness" Jasmine added. "But this is different. It’s a force unlike darkness... A force different from both the light and the darkness."

 

"Are ya alright Kairi?" Goofy asked kindly.

 

"I'm fine" Kairi said, feeling anything but.

 

Sora walked up to the swirling gate and looked back at her. "We'll go together" he said confidently, as he reached his hand for hers.

 

Kairi nodded, and grasped his hand, as they stepped forward into the unknown.

 

* * *

 

 

Or, not, since they arrived in the same courtyard that Maleficent had been in when they'd followed her through that other portal.

 

As Sora walked up ahead, Kairi saw something pass by her and realized it was heading right for him, but before she could say anything it went right  _through_ her best friend.

 

She reached for him as he fell to the floor, and helped him to his feet. "Who are you?" he asked the intruder. It was a man in a black coat, with the hood drawn up, obscuring the face, and a long zipper all the way up the front, along with a pair of tassels and other adornments. The coat itself was worn with black pants and boots, and a pair of simple black gloves.

 

_Ah, it seems you are special, too._

 

The voice came as a reply inside her mind, all of their minds.

 

"Ansem?" Goofy wondered hesitantly.

 

_That name rings familiar._

 

The man's hand was engulfed by blue light, which crackled like lightning, and seemed to distort and shift.

 

_You remind me of him._

 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora asked indignantly.

 

Suddenly, the man thrust his hand towards  _her_ and beams of lightning and thorns were arcing towards her, as she reacted and summoned Oathkeeper to her hand in time to block the attack. She struggled to hold the strange energy back, until she managed to push it and knock it towards the ceiling.

 

The man seemed strangely surprised by this, in his posture, before relaxing.

 

_It means you are not whole._

 

Sora summoned his own keyblade, and she heard the others get ready behind them.

 

_You both are incomplete. Allow me—to test your strength._

 

 The man raised his hands and two balls of light shot forward, before stopping and expanding into massive spheres of energy, surprising Kairi as she was trying to block only to find herself engulfed and shocked instead.

 

The man surrounded himself in darkness and zoomed forward and kicked her in the chest before grabbing her by the hair, the sparks at his fingertips burning her scalp, and throwing her at Sora, causing them to collapse in a pile of limbs.

 

"RAAAAH!" roared the Beast, charging as the man summoned a sparking barrier in front of him, which Beast crashed into and then _through_ , lifting the man by the throat in his claws.

 

The man seemed surprised by this, but kept his composure as he gripped Beast's wrist in his fingers and twisted, audibly breaking something with a crack as the cursed prince howled in agony. The man grabbed Beast's elbow with his other hand and the forearm with his legs and fell backward, slamming the Beast to the ground while he landed gracefully on his feet.

 

Goofy's shield flew at the man's head, but the stranger caught it in midair and tossed it back towards its owner, walking forward as he did so, a pair of pink blades appearing in the palms of his hands as he swiped and swung, his weapons crackling threateningly as they bounced off the knight's shield.

 

"Gravity!" Donald cast, and a field of black compressed space surrounded the assailant, causing sparks to ripple around the man's frame and him to hunch over and writhe in visible pain, giving the mage considerable satisfaction.

 

 The man recovered quickly, and started firing his laser blades from his palms, barely missing the duck. "Gravira!" the mage yelled, once again stunning the man, who recovered and vanished into darkness, reappearing right in front of Donald his arm swinging forward to plunge his weapon into the court wizard's body.

 

"Graviza."

 

The man collapsed to the ground, and Donald cackled with laughter, closing his eyes and pointing.

 

Kairi and Sora staggered to their feet, Kairi wincing as her exposed skin rubbed against the spikes in his hair. As they get to their feet they see a bunch of stones have scattered from Sora's pockets and rolled to a pile on the floor. Looking up, they see-

 

"Donald! Look out!"

 

"Heheheheh- WAAAK!" 

 

The black-coated figure was on his feet again and, calmly, backhanded Donald against the far wall, where he fell unconscious.

 

"Donald!"

 

"Donald!"

 

"Donald!"

 

"Donald!"

 

 

The man in black teleported over to Sora and Kairi, his hand raised to swing.

 

"Courage!" the two cried, stretching their keyblades out over their summon gems and causing smoke and light to fill the room.

 

A cloud coalesced and formed paws, a tail, a regal mane, as a powerful lion stepped forward. A small meadow appeared from a flash of light, as an adorable deer fawn pranced about. A bubble descended from above them, inside of it an elephant with large ears, which it flapped like wings.

 

And, finally, like there was a massive furnace, an eruption of smoke and flame revealed a massive shadow, looming over the room. A fierce beast, an embodiment of fire...

 

...A very tiny dragon standing on Kairi's head.

 

"I AM MUSHU!"

 

The man in black summoned a ring of lasers, and as they fired towards Sora, the lion roared, deflecting them and knocking the man back.

 

Kairi threw a leg over the elephant's back and rode him forward, spraying a stream of water from his trunk, as Mushu spat a volley of fireball which unfortunately stopped against the man's barrier.

 

The man summoned more rings of lasers only to stop and look behind him to see the deer, biting him in the butt through the back of his coat.

 

Sora charged forward, sieizing on his distraction and swung with his keyblade, which the man blocked with his blade, Kairi blocked his other blade as he swung it around in turn, the elephant beneath her blowing water into the man's hood, which somehow managed to stay on.

 

Then the laser blades vanished and two massively expanded spheres of energy were in their place.

 

The man surrounded himself in darkness and suddenly there was a pale blue aura around him and massive lasers firing from his body and the palms of has hands. Simba, Beast, Bambi and Dumbo charged at the man, and were knocked back. Goofy lept in front of Sora and Kairi and blocked the lasers with his shield.

 

When the onslaught finished, a beam of electricity-like energy and thorns erupted from the man's hand and struck Kairi in the chest and she screamed as It lifted her into the air. It was like ice and fire around her heart.

 

She collapsed to the ground when it was over, as she felt her entire body spasm. The man was standing next to her, and she weakly tried to swing her weapon at his legs, but felt her muscles seize up, pain sparking through her.

 

Sora lunged at the man in black, and slammed the backside of his keyblade downward, causing a field of gravity magic to erupt around his weapon from the force of the blow, staggering the man slightly. Sora swung his keyblade wildly, delivering blow after blow after blow and cockily yelled "See ya!" as he finished the combo.

 

The man in black was knocked back, but proceeded to begin a combo of his own, dancing around Sora and spinning, his arms outstretched with a blade in each of them. Sora raised his keyblade to block and the attacks pushed him back, until the man did a flip so he was upside down, his arms outstretched, his body spinning like a helicopter, at which point Sora spun his keyblade around and lunged forward faster than the eye could see.

 

The man landed on his feet, as Sora's iron cutting techniques brought him to a stop behind the man, the two facing away from each other.

 

Then a slash appeared in the man's torso. Sora had cut right through him. A burst of darkness and energy erupted from the man's wound. Kairi struggled to her feet. Hopefully it was over.

 

The man gripped his side, seemingly trying to keep himself together, then chopped his arm downward, the injury instantly vanishing as if it was never there.

 

_Impressive._

 

Kairi stared.

 

_This will be enjoyable._

 

"What are you talking about!?" Kairi cried as Sora charged the man, only for him to disappear and reappear behind the boy.

 

_It is beyond your comprehension, for now._

 

Sora gaped. "Wait, what are you!?"

 

 _I am-_ The man began as he was surrounded by darkness, and his 'voice' grew more and more faint as he  left. ... _But a mere shell._

 

Sora and Kairi stared at the place the man had been. Then Kairi felt something rubbing against her hand and when she looked, saw Bambi's head rubbing against and nuzzling her, something gripped in his mouth.

 

Kairi reached for Bambi's prize and saw it was a piece of paper, 'Ansem's Report 13' written at the top.

 

"What was that all about?" Donald grumbled as he sat up after he slowly returned to consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic isn't finished yet, Sora and Kairi still have a little bit more to do, but for now, I'm going to post the next fic in this series, my Days equivalent. Which should go up simultaneously with this.


	5. "Someone to keep you safe"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies to the real Kurt Zisa if you happen to be reading this. Incidentally, you have a pretty cool last name. What's it like having a really tough boss named after yourself? Have you ever beaten the Heartless with your name? These are questions I have long wanted the answers to that only you can provide.

_"Please don’t tell Aladdin about all this. He will worry to death if you do! I will tell him about it, once I return to Agrabah."_

 

_"Are you sure you don't want us to tell him you're alright? He's probably worried anyway..."_

 

* * *

 

 

They had barely stepped out onto the streets of Agrabah and Kairi already felt like she was dying. She was used to sun and heat and heat and sand (mostly), but she was certain she'd never been anywhere this  _dry_ before. She was already sweating through her top, and she felt like the moisture was practically being sucked out of her pores.

 

She glared at Sora's back as he kept walking forward, not even seeming to notice.

 

"Halt!" "Stop that beast!" cried several voices from the palace.

 

The group stopped and watched as several royal guards of various builds, in black vests and white turbans, were all flung to the sides by some massive creature charging through them. Kairi could only stare as the massive animal charged straight for her and tackled her, pinning her to the ground.

 

"Kairi!"

 

"Kairi!"

 

Kairi stared up at a fierce looking tiger, snarling in her face.

 

"Hey, you're Rajah, right?"

 

The beast seemed surprised by that reaction, and stopped snarling just to stare at her.

 

"Jasmine sent me." The tiger seemed even more surprised by this news. "She's going to be back soon, don't worry. She wanted me and my friends to make sure everything was okay here while she's gone."

 

Rajah seemed satisfied by this, and backed away, allowing Kairi to look around to see the surprised and frightened faces of Donald and Goofy, (as well as the guards in the distance) and the more bored countenance of Sora as he reached a hand out to her.

 

"Still wish you could teach me how to do that."

 

"And I'm still not sure what you mean by 'that'." Kairi said as she rubbed the massive tiger on its belly, as the palace guards unanimously decided that the princess's pet was not their problem.

 

"She has several pet sharks" Sora explained to the others.

 

"They aren't my pets."

 

"No, you just feed them and pet them and they follow you like lost puppies when you're on the beach, or in a boat or swimming."

 

"Uh, don't ya mean lost _guppies_?"

 

Everyone stared at Goofy, fighting the urge to groan as he 'hyucked' and chuckled to himself at his own joke.

 

"Let's just go find Aladdin." Donald grit out.

 

As Kairi stood up, Rajah jumped up and slid between her legs, startling her and flipping her up with his nose and onto his back. The beast started jumping onto booths and climbing up walls, scaling the roofs of the city as it followed Kairi's directions towards the small hovel on the roofs overlooking the palace.

 

When the group arrived, they found Aladdin on his couch, struggling to communicate with the flying carpet he's found in the Cave of Wonders. The Carpet seemed to be frantic, almost panicked, and for his part, Aladdin seemed tired, with bags under his eyes, almost as if the "discussion" had taken several days already with very few breaks.

 

"What's going on?" Sora asked as he pulled himself up through the window, Kairi dismounting from Rajah.

 

Aladdin looked up, surprised, and smiled wearily. "Hey, Sora. Carpet came back a few days ago and woke me up. I know it's worried about something, but all this time I've been trying to figure out what's up, I haven't been making any headway."

 

Aladdin smiled as he glanced at the snoring monkey on the pillow next to him. "Abu hasn't had any luck either."

 

"Maybe we could call Genie?" Kairi suggested.

 

Aladdin blinked at the new visitor. "Is this one of the friends you were looking for Sora?"

 

"Yep," Sora said. "Aladdin, this is Kairi." Sora introduced.

 

"Nice to meet you Kairi," Aladdin greeted with a wave.

 

"What do you think Genie could do to help?" Genie asked, resting a blue forearm on Kairi's shoulder.

 

Kairi shrugged. "I dunno, it seemed like he and the Carpet are friends, and he said he'd come help us whenever we needed it, so-"

 

"You're right!" Genie exclaimed, "Why didn't I think of that! I guess that's why you're the brains of this outfit little lady," he said, dazzling her with fireworks and sparklers.

 

Kairi clapped politely, and the Genie's face dropped. "Hey, I know you've seen my whole gig before, but you could try to look a  _little_ more surprised."

 

"Sorry."

 

"Now, what seems to be the problem Rug Man?"

 

The carpet seemed to be having a fit at this point, waving its tassels about expressively and rapidly, almost too fast to see.

 

Genie's face grew more serious and pale the more of the carpet's explanation he listened to, until, after Carpet finished, the blue comedian whistled and let out a small "Yikes."

 

"What is it?" the others all demanded, extremely worried.

 

"Uh." Genie looked worried now. Genie _never_ looked worried. "So, worlds have hearts, right? And you guys have sealed this world's heart. So it's fine. But sometimes, when a world's in trouble, it'll try to protect itself."

 

"Long story short, a while back, sometime when I last heard about the keyhole, one of the WEAPONS that this place uses to protect itself became a Heartless and then just sorta vanished." The Genie seemed to recover some of his usual attitude as he flashed a grin. "Yours truly might have had something to do with that. Saving the day, one wish at a time."

 

"But a few days ago, Carpet was exploring the desert, and something fell from the sky, and now it's back." Genie finished hurriedly. "And it's heading this way."

 

"Alright." Sora said. "We'll stop it."

 

"Stop it!?" Genie's eyes boggled out of his head. Literally. " _STOP_ it!!??" Genie just stared. "Look, kid, at best you could slow it down while it slices you to ribbons, but I'm telling you right now, this thing cannot be stopped."

 

"Not even with this?" Sora grinned as he twirled his keyblade.

 

"Nope."

 

Sora pouted. "You don't know that for sure!"

 

"I do. It's been tried. I was there. Wasn't pretty."

 

"Uh, guys?"

 

Everyone turned to look at Goofy, who was staring out the window.

 

Just outside the window, looking in, was a golden, cobra-like face attached to a massive body with six arms, two of which were wielding giant scimitars.

 

"Uh oh."

 

"Watch out!" Kairi cried, tackling Goofy and trying to block the monster's blade as it crashed through the wall. The force of the attack disarmed her, and her keyblade flew through the air until Sora caught it.

 

"Kairi!" Sora called, as the Agrabah WEAPON's other sword arm smashed through the roof.

 

"Run!"

 

Genie and the Carpet grabbed Sora, Aladdin and Donald and sped away as the ceiling collapsed, leaving a cloud of dust and rubble behind. 

 

Standing atop of Carpet, Sora stared at the debris, then glared hatefully at the Heartless that had created it. Kairi had changed the keychain on her usual keyblade to the thalassa shell Wayfinder she had made, which had come to symbolize, in her mind, the promise she'd made to be there for her friends. Sora's own keyblade was now using a keychain with a black replica of the crown on his necklace, a reminder of Riku's first gift to him.

 

Sora's grip tightened around the twin keyblades.

 

"Kurt Zisa." Genie breathed.

 

"It won't be anything for much longer." Sora said. "That's a promise."

 

* * *

 

 

 

"Goofy! Are you alright!" Kairi yelled.

 

There was no response. The royal knight was unconscious, but still breathing, mostly unharmed thanks to the barrier shining from Kairi's necklace.

 

She tried to summon her original keyblade, but found that she couldn't. So instead she summoned her second keyblade, the one formed from her heart and those of the other princesses.

 

It still felt weird whenever she held it.

 

Kairi picked up Goofy and slung him across her back, it was a bit of an awkward lift because of how much taller he was than her, but she'd carried heavier weights on her shoulders, if not necessarily longer ones.

 

Suddenly, some of the masonry above her shifted, and she saw Abu and Rajah looking down at her through a hole that they'd started to dig. Kairi let the barrier fall and jumped through the new gap as the masonry her spell had supported finally collapsed.

 

Kairi looked around, and saw Donald staring at the giant's rampage. "Donald!" she called as she approached, causing the court magician to look over.

 

"Goofy!" Donald said as he rushed over and Kairi carefully lowered Goofy down.

 

"Where's Sora?" Kairi asked.

 

Donald stretched out one of his wings and Kairi looked at where he was pointing. She saw Sora on the flying carpet, Aladdin clutching on for dear life, as the carpet dove and dodged and spun under and around the enormous machine's arms, Sora flailing at the creature with her keyblade and his own whenever he got a chance. Unfortunately, it seemed like none of his strikes were having much effect other than making monster angry, and causing it to step on and destroy more buildings.

 

"We have to get it away from the city," Kairi said. "Hey!" she called, as she threw her keyblade at the creature. It turned at just the right time for her strike to land in its face.

 

Kurt Zisa crashed to the ground in a daze, and before Kairi knew it the flying carpet was rushing towards her and then she was on it, Sora gripping her tightly in his arms, tears and snot streaming down his face. She smiled kindly and returned his hug and gave him a peck on the cheek before gently pushing him away. As Sora stepped back and rubbed his sleeve against his face, Kairi looked back towards the robotic Heartless staggering to its feet, chasing after them as they escaped into the desert.

 

At least, that was what she expected to see. Instead it had simply vanished.

 

"Where'd it go? How could something that big- WHOOAA!!"

 

As if in answer, the beetle-like monster erupted from the sand ahead of them, and as the carpet dodged around it, pillars rose from the ground, an impassible barrier between them. The carpet turned on its side as it turned, causing Sora, Kairi and Aladdin to fall to the dunes below. As Kairi pushed herself to her feet, she saw the thuds of its steps as it turned to face them.

 

"Let's go!" Sora yelled, as he charged forward keyblades in hand, as a magical seal appeared around Kurt Zisa and Kairi found that she could no longer speak or use magic, and a pair of glowing orbs manifested in the WEAPON's lowest pair of hands. If Sora noticed his sudden lack of ability to speak he didn't seem to care much, jumping and spinning and attacking the hands as Kurt Zisa spun its blades and torso, making the heartless seem not so much like a swordsman and more like a bizarre and dangerous blender.

 

Kairi rolled under a swipe of the blades and hit the Heartless in the wrist with a rising slash as she jumped up to it, then spun forward and slashed her keyblade down again, and as she landed, frowned at how little of an effect it seemed to have.

 

_"Unlike yours, this keyblade can unlock people's hearts."_

 

Kairi glanced at the keyblade in her hand, then, seeing the hand clutching the orb above her, thrust her weapon into it, piercing the hand and the orb itself. She focused on the spell sealing her voice, visualized the "lock" and  _twisted._

 

The magic was dispelled instantly, causing the Heartless to collapse in shock and agony. Sora immediately jumped and started slashing furiously, gathering light at the tip of both keyblades which he then fired as dozens of lasers spiraling into the monster's face. As Sora landed, Kairi caught him and pulled him back just in time as Kurt Zisa stood up and summoned a barrier around itself. Sora fought out of her grip and started attacking the shield, only for his blows to have no effect, every swing bouncing back and sending him backwards as he grew more and more frustrated.

 

The top pair of hands on the mech started tracing a pattern in the air, and an enormous fireball appeared in front of Kairi, heading towards her. She summoned her own barrier, and the mine bounced off and flew towards its summoner, visibly weakening its protection.

 

"It's weak to magic!" Kairi called, hoping Sora would _listen_ for once.

 

"Genie!" Aladdin cried, and his blue best buddy appeared in his usual display of smoke.

 

"Say no more, say no more!" the former prisoner of the lamp said with a display of his usual confidence, blasting the Heartless's barrier with thunderstorms and explosions. In retaliation, Kurt Zisa summoned tornadoes of sand that whipped against Aladdin and Kairi, irritating and even cutting her already reddened skin, getting in her mouth, nose and eyes. She managed to summon her barrier around herself and Aladdin, allowing the wind to dissipate harmlessly on the outside.

 

"Thunder!" Sora cast with both keyblades in the air, jumping over a ball of energy that emerged from the sand in front of him and flew towards him. Kurt Zisa circled around the arena and right when it was about to pass her Kairi let loose the energy stored in her barrier, the force of the sandstorm crashing into the Heartless, dispelling its protection and sending it to the ground.

 

"Good job guys!" Aladdin said, as he jumped up and slashed at the heartless's head with his sword a few times before Sora came in and got in his way.

 

Kairi frowned at how angry Sora seemed. He knew she was alright, so why...?

 

Shaking her head at her dumb _boy_ friend, she gripped her keyblade with both hands and when the snake like head zoomed out of Sora's reach and into hers, she swung several times with all her weight, knocking her target around a bit before, seeing she wasn't doing enough, she started jumping and somersaulting with each blow just to put more force into it.

 

"And this is for that time you called my jokes 'dated'!" Genie yelled, apparently still somewhat incensed at the being the Heartless had once been as he unleashed a storm of fireworks at the still prone form.

 

Nevertheless, despite the assault, Kurt Zisa still rose to its feet, none the worse for wear, and seemed about to continue the battle until it stumbled, its legs no longer able to support its weight as a knee gave way beneath it, giving Kairi an unexpectedly close look at the fabric between its legs that reminded her distinctly of the loincloths she'd seen in textbooks and worn with her friends in traditional ceremonies and dances.

 

As the enormous Heartless continued to fall forward, the three raced out from under it, Sora grabbing Kairi and pulling her with him as the shadow of the colossus grew ever larger until, at the last possible moment, Carpet returned and lifted them up and away. As they watched, a massive heart emerged from Kurt Zisa and it finally crumbled to pieces and disappeared.

 

As they flew back to Agrabah, Sora remembered why they'd come in the first place. "Oh yeah! We found Jasmine! We couldn't bring her back but she wanted us to tell you that she's fine and she'll be back soon."

 

* * *

 

 

Back aboard the ship, Kairi showed the others her prize.

 

"You took that from that thing's _crotch!_?" Sora asked.

 

Kairi shrugged. "It didn't have anything I haven't seen before" she said. "Or anything at all, for that matter."

 

"But why-" Donald started.

 

"It's got writing on the back of it" Kairi said as she showed the others the other side, the one without the heart-shaped emblem. "It says Ansem's Report 11 at the top, see?"

 

Sora frowned. "But we're trying to stop Ansem, right?"

 

Kairi nodded. "Right, so knowing what he knows, and knowing what his plans are will help, right?"

 

"Sounds good to me" Goofy said. "Why don't ya read it?"

 

"Alright."

 

"Ansem's Report 11."

 

_"Opening the door to the world's heart causes its walls to crumble. These fragments are seen as shooting stars. This explains why these "gummi blocks" can travel freely to other worlds."_

 

_"I know the catalyst of the collapse, the appearance of the Heartless. However, it will take time to search out the worlds' doors, and to retrieve each heart.Furthermore, the doors can be locked using a Keyblade making the heart forever unattainable. I must take action before the wielder of this key appears in this world."_

 

Kairi paused as she started to read the next section. Something didn't seem right, but... _"If the princesses and the Keyblade are connected, they should resonate."_

 

Her voice stuck in her throat as she began to read the next sentence. "No."

 

"Kairi, what's wrong?" Jiminy asked, as he paused in transcribing and copying the report to his journal.

 

Kairi resolved herself to keep going even as she started to cry. _"I have chosen a girl. I don't know if she holds the princesses' powers, but I will find out. She may lead me to the key bearer. I shall set her free and observe."_

 

Kairi stared at the piece of parchment in her hands. She couldn't even see the words on it anymore, her eyes were so blurred with tears.

 

"Me" she said. It felt like the only thing she could say, the only thing she could think. None of the others knew what to say.

 

"The-" Kairi clenched her fist and choked down a sob and continued. "The only reason he came to the islands. The reason he knew to go after Riku. It was all because of me" she said, shaking her head in disbelief.

 

"If not for him, would we even know each other?" Sora asked, voicing the question that was now haunting her. Would probably now always haunt her. She didn't know what to say, or how to answer it.

 

Sora frowned. "I don't want to think about having to thank him for meeting you."

 

"Yeah" Kairi sniffed. "Me either."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kairi is sadly not dressed for and doesn't have the experience or, to a lesser extent, genetics, for a desert. Or sunscreen.
> 
> She will be sunburned for the rest of the fic.
> 
> I like that Aladdin has the cheer ability. It's sadly basically the only use he has in the Kurt Zisa fight.
> 
> I think it's weird that party members disappear during summons, and based on the fact that Mushu and Simba recognize Donald and Goofy, and that Sora can summon a train in KH3 and Donald and Goofy will still be there, I'm going to chalk that up to a gameplay/hardware/engine thingy.


	6. It's all Greek to Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The writers for the Hercules TV series had an idea for an episode where Persephone was Hades and Demeter's daughter in a custody battle and I thought that was a really interesting and unique take on the myth so that's what I'm going with. The Persephone myth, like all myths, has a lot of different versions, and in a lot of them there are a lot of differences, but all of them have one thing in common: They're all about the origin of Winter.
> 
> Like, the "point" of the myth is that Persephone has to go back and forth and that's where winter comes from. Going back and forth is a thing kids of divorced parents can relate to. So.
> 
> I would like to point out for the record that Donald Duck's views are not necessarily my own. Neither are those of Hades.
> 
> I might have let a little bit of the original greek myths bleed a bit into the Disney versions oops.

Arriving at the gates to the coliseum, they noticed that things were slightly different. Namely, that the flames on all the pedestals were bright blue. And that one of the two sets of scoreboards by the gates was covered in a huge blue poster with a grinning, flame haired face on it.

 

As they opened the doors and stepped into the coliseum's lobby, Phil was pacing back and forth, lurking nervously at a long list until he looked up.

 

"Hey rookies. Who's the cheerleader?"

 

Kairi pursed her lips, and shrugged off the arm around her shoulders when Sora pulled her into a side hug. "This is my friend Kairi. She'll be joining us in the games."

 

Phil looked suddenly nervous again, and Kairi calmly walked to the side of the room.. "Look kid, this new tournament is so bad I'm not even sure about letting a scrawny kid like you in, much less your wimpy girl-"

 

Kairi gripped and strained and lifted and pushed with her legs like she and Riku had been taught in weight lifting class and managed to shove the stone block in Phil's direction, trapping the Satyr between it and the wall.

 

Phil stared at the block in front of his face, then at the redhead grinning at him as she leaned over it, then up at the ceiling. "Dames" he muttered under his breath before looking back at her. "...I don't suppose you've already got a hero trainer do ya toots? Because it's been a while since I've seen this much raw talent in a newbie."

 

She frowned. She wasn't sure she liked the way he was looking at her. "I can compete with my friends, right?"

 

Phil looked between the four of them, then sighed, slumped forward, defeated. "It's your funeral kids."

 

* * *

 

 After they had signed up they had to wait for the tournament to start that night. Finally, Phil went and got them and lead them into the coliseum itself.

Kairi looked around at the stadium, the stands were filled with people in chitons, with people eating snacks from vendors making their way around through the crowds.

 

In a box made of bones and sculls above the barred gates to the prep area were a pair of imps, one round and purple, the other angular and blue.

 

"Welcome one and all to the sporting event of the chiliasm!" the imps chorused.

 

"I'm your host Pain!" said the purple one wearing a pair of squeaky sandals with Hercules' face on them.

 

"And I'm his co-host Panic!" the blue one announced before loudly slurping from a drink in front of him.

 

"Ahem" cleared a throat behind the two, and Kairi saw a young woman behind the imps in the box, she was pink, with a flower like crown on her head, and her chiton pinned at her shoulders by a pair of brooches shaped like flowers, her eyes were red, and she had long blonde hair going down her back.

 

 _She's cute_ Kairi noticed with a blush, causing Sora to roll his eyes.

 

"Oh, right" the blue imp chuckled nervously.

 

"And this is lady Persephone! Goddess of the dead, Princess of the Underworld!" Pain announced loudly, seemingly not seeking the goddess's displeasure.

 

At this point, the group noticed that what they thought were statues on the ground of the arena and around the stands were actually people with various skintones, all but their heads encased in molten rock and ice. At the description of the woman at the top as goddess of the dead, a stout woman with green skin and various flora in her hair stiffened in umbrage.

 

"What's going on Hercules?" Goofy asked the similarly entrapped hero next to where Phil had lead them.

 

"Yeah, what gives-"

 

"HEY!" Pain shouted, the words echoing loudly around the arena.

 

"No talking to the decoration!" Panic declared.

 

The imps and the crowd were staring right at them. Phil nudged them in the side.

 

Persephone glanced at them and smiled sympathetically before she spoke into the microphone. "The first match of our tournament" Persephone said "In the east wing bracket, will be Team Sora versus the Shadow Brothers!"

 

They walked on to the stage, as a small group of Shadows and Soldiers appeared. Sora cleared them all with a single swing of his keyblade.

 

"That was fast!" Pain said.

 

"But there's more where that came from folks!" Panic said.

 

"Next up!" Pain butted in.

 

"Watch the Great Ninja Yuffie face off against the one, the only!" Panic cried.

 

"The Royal Buzz" Persephone said in a bored monotone, as an enormous bee-like Heartless wearing a red crown and cape appeared as Yuffie's opponent.

 

"Is that a new Heartless?" Jiminy asked rhetorically, taking out his journal while standing on Sora's shoulder. "I'm gonna call it the Queen Bee."

 

As Kairi looked back to the fight, she saw Yuffie throw giant shuriken at the creature's abdomen, piercing it and causing it to burst. As the heart left the creature, she noticed it looked different from hearts released by the keyblade, more dull and faded, with holes and patches of darkness.

 

She frowned. "It's just going to be back later." she said.

 

"Next up, the Wild Dance!"

 

Goofy threw his shield once and eliminated all the Wight Knights and Powerwilds the moment they appeared.

 

"Creeping roots!"

 

Yuffie dodged some seeds sent at her then found roots sticking out of the ground which she pulled, uprooting the new Heartless Jiminy was calling Creeper Plants.

 

Based on the way they attacked Yuffie with their vines, Kairi was inclined to agree.

 

"Terrible Feet!"

 

Kairi and Sora threw their keyblades and cleared out all the Heartless.

 

"Blackest Night!"

 

A Black Ballade turned into a bunch, and all of them circled Yuffie as she followed them with her eyes, trying to keep track of the real one. When they stopped, she lunged at the one her eyes were on, thinking she had guessed correctly.

 

She had not, and was zapped for her trouble.

 

To add insult to injury, the next time she tried she didn't even hit the Heartless, and it teleported away, seemingly giving up on playing with her.

 

"Dirty Claws!"

 

Donald walked onto the stage by himself, yawned, said "Thundaza" and walked off, leaving shards of pottery behind him.

 

"Opposite Day!"

 

Kairi winced as Yuffie was smacked back and forth by a pair of Opposite Armors, the ninja forced into using one elixir and potion after another whenever she could. Thankfully, their friend weathered the onslaught and beat both of the Heartless bosses.

 

"Mad Truffle!"

 

No sooner had Kairi stepped onto the stage before the single Rare Truffle was running towards her, scooping her up in a hug and then pulling Sora into it for good measure.

 

"Hey little guy" she said awkwardly as she pet it on the cap and it beamed at her and her friend. "Are you the same one we helped earlier?" The Heartless nodded enthusiastically at this.

 

"Do ya want us to help you again?" Sora asked.

 

The truffle vigorously shook its head back and forth and then hopped once so it was off the stage, making it out of bounds.

 

As they left back to their place where they could watch the matches, they found that the little Heartless was following them, and eventually came to a stop in front of them and gave them an adorable little salute.

 

On impulse, Sora and Kairi picked up the mushroom and both gave it a little kiss on the cap, causing it to wiggle and teleport away, waving at them as it left in its portal.

 

Kairi found that, while the match had been declared a victory by way of forfeit, the entire audience was staring at them.

 

Panic seemed to snap out of it first, and announced the next match: "Opposite Week!"

 

"Oh come on!" Yuffie snapped.

 

Kairi couldn't help but agree. "Don't you think it's weird that Yuffie gets all these tough matches?" she asked her companions.

 

Donald shrugged. "Better her than us-"

 

"Sora versus Yuffie!"

 

The group turned and stared. Yuffie had already cleared out all 7 Opposite Armors, her fishnets were ripped and her hair was a mess. And she was staring at them. Grinning.

 

The moment they stepped onto the arena the ninja punched the ground and the earth was shaking under their feet. Kairi was helpless as the ground exploded under her, and fell back on her rear.

 

"Just give up, it'll be easier." the ninja said with a grin, as Sora charged her from behind and she jumped over him, pushing him in the back so he fell right on top of Kairi.

 

Kairi sat up and bumped her forhead into Sora's, and as a result he fell while he was trying to push himself up and drove his knee into her stomach.

 

Yuffie gripped her shuriken in one hand and dashed toward them while they were prone, but found herself blocked by Goofy. She stepped to the side and swung her shuriken at his face, but he crouched under her arm, held his shield by the rim and swung it into the side of her face as he rose back up, leaving a mouse-shaped mark on her cheek.

 

"Flare!"

 

Yuffie turned and saw Donald grinning wickedly with a huge number of fireworks around him.

 

"H-hey, let's talk this out..." she began, only for the fireworks to zoom towards her. She tried to duck and pull Goofy into the line of fire, but the dog-man fell forward into a push-up leaving her helpless as the arsenal crashed into her and exploded, leaving her dazed and covered in soot and coughing.

 

"Hey! E-ease up!" she started as Donald slowly walked toward her, his staff held tightly in both hands.

 

The Duck swung his staff side-to-side into her knees, first one then the other, causing them to collapse out from under her, and, as she fell, brought his staff back down and swung upward so it caught her in the chin.

 

The young ninja fell onto her back unconscious.

"That was for hitting me with the door back in Traverse Town!"

 

* * *

 

 

Kairi panted, staring at the flame-colored Behemoth.  _How much more can this thing take!?_

 

Thankfully, the beast groaned and finally vanished, its heart shining brilliantly as it left.

 

"And the winners are Sora, Donald, Kairi and Goofy! They get to go on to the next ten rounds!" Persephone said from the announcer's box, as the audience looking in through the windows outside the arena proper clapped and cheered.

 

Kairi wasn't feeling so excited, and neither were her friends.

 

"There's ten more rounds of this!?" Sora asked Phil as he approached from the doors and tossed them all clay water bottles.

 

The Satyr shook his head. "Nope. There's  _fourty_."

 

"FOURTY!?" the party all shouted.

 

"But it's almost midnight!"

 

Phil shrugged. "I tried to warn ya. But you do get to sleep some between brackets, especially since it's the first day." The goat-man stalked off back towards the lobby. "I'll show you to your room."

 

They followed him through the lobby and the front gates, and then followed him around the side of the building until eventually there was a small door in the side. They walked through a few cramped hallways until they reached a small room with two beds.

 

"Get some rest kids. You'll need it." Phil said as he turned and left.

 

KairI pulled off her top, shorts and skirt as Sora slipped out of his jacket and onesie and they crawled into one of the beds together, Kairi's arms wrapped around Sora, his back to her front.

 

They were so tired they fell asleep almost right away, but neither could help but notice that someone was missing from their sleepover routine.

 

* * *

 

Donald wasn't sure how he felt about his new charges. Especially the new one.

 

He'd never had to raise _girls_ before.

 

Not that he'd be able to tell from the way she acted. He could have sworn she was worse than _Sora_. Messier, lazier, more reckless.

 

At least she was a better pilot, he thought, shuddering.

 

And her magic! Aside from that barrier trick she'd learned from nowhere he could tell, she was the worst magician he'd ever seen as far as actual spellcasting went. He'd never felt _worse_ after a cure spell before.

 

He glared at the kids as they snored soundly. They even fell asleep in their shoes.

 

He grumbled under his breath as he approached the children's feet, then sighed and started unbuckling and unzipping them and pulled them off. When he finished, he looked at the two in the bed. He wasn't sure how he felt about kids their age undressing around each other so casually. It seemed dangerous, but then again, they trusted each other, and they seemed so practiced at it that maybe it seemed normal for them.

 

"Riku."

 

Donald froze. Sora and Kairi seemed to be reaching around on the bed, looking for someone that wasn't there. It reminded him of what his nephews were like if one of them disappeared for whatever reason, in the rare occasions it had been only two instead of three. It was like a piece was missing.

 

Donald started to feel a bit guilty about that fact. He was the one who'd said that Riku couldn't join them back in Traverse Town. Maybe if he hadn't been so quick-tempered...

 

He sighed as quietly as he could. He vowed that he would do whatever he could to help these kids find their friend. It was a promise.

 

Donald turned and saw that Goofy had already fallen asleep in the other bed.

 

Great.

 

* * *

 

 

Phil walked into the room and felt like he was going to die.

 

"You kids smell worse than Tartarus on Taco Tuesday!"

 

The kids in question sat up. Kairi's hair was sticking up in all directions. Sora's was completely flat.

 

It was _wrong_. Phil felt it in his bones.

 

Sighing, he turned and left the bedroom. "I'll show you both to the bath."

 

* * *

 

 

Donald walked into the room and felt like he was going to die.

 

"WHY ARE YOU NAKED!?"

 

Kairi and Sora, hair still soaked from their splashfight, tilted their heads and stared at him. "Uh, because we're taking a bath?" Sora said like it was obvious.

 

"B-B-BUT! I! YOU!"

 

Donald sputtered to a stop and turned and glared as Goofy walked past him into the bath.

 

Goofy shrugged. "When in Rome."

 

"WE'RE IN GREECE!"

 

* * *

 

 

"So you guys really don't have public baths?"

 

"NO!"

 

"You should come visit the hot springs on the islands sometime-"

 

"GENTLEMEN AND NYMPHS!"

 

The four looked up as they stepped into the arena.

 

"Welcome to Day 2 of our tournament!" Pain announced.

 

"That's right, and since most of our competitors were eliminated last night..." Panic added.

 

"This will probably be the last!" Pain finished.

 

As Sora looked around, he couldn't help but notice that, while still cheering, the audience seemed a fair bit more nervous than they had last night.

 

"Most of the other heroes that entered have been wiped out." Phil whispered. "If someone doesn't win this we'll be-"

 

"ARE YOU READY FOR THE NEXT MATCH!?" Panic shouted.

 

The crowd whooped and roared, so loud they were deafening.

 

"Alright, you asked for it! Team Sora! Versus! The Reeeed Legion!"

 

"Do you think we can change our team name?" Sora found himself asking the others as they walked across the field of the stadium towards the four pillars of the arena.

 

Donald stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "You're the one who wanted the team named after yourself in the first place!"

 

"Well, yeah, but." Sora frowned. "I was thinking we could change it to Team Riku?"

 

Everyone looked saddened by that, but especially Kairi. He reached for her and she leaned into his touch, as Donald and Goofy shared guilty looks.

 

"Sora-" Donald started.

 

"MATCH START!" the imps said at once.

 

Whatever Donald was going to say was drowned out by a synchronized volley of fireballs from the Red Nocturnes. Sora blocked them and sent them back to the Search Ghost, while Kairi coated her keyblade in ice as she threw it at the remaining enemies.

 

"Blue Legion," Persephone announced in a bored monotone.

 

"Don't we get a break?" Goofy asked.

 

"Nope!" Pain crowed.

 

"Match start!"

 

"Graviza!" Donald cast, crushing all floating Heartless at once.

 

"SORCEROUS ARMOR!"

 

Kairi created a ball of light at the tip of her keyblade, but instead of a volley of dozens of golden shots like Sora's Ragnarok technique, instead she only fired seven, one for each color of light. The blasts went into and then through each of the smaller Heartless, and all slammed into the Red Armor torso, which fell to the ground and exploded.

 

"MAD FUNGUS!"

 

Kairi coughed as she inhaled the terrible dark spores, And Goofy ended up jumping and knocking all of the floating healers into the ground, allowing Donald to smash them with his staff. Finally, Sora cut through the Black Fungus the moment its guard was down and it unhardened.

 

"SPIDERS & MAGIC!"

 

"OPTICAL TRICK!"

 

"MAGIC FORCE!"

 

"SHADOW SUMMONERS!"

 

Sora was soaked with sweat and exhausted. One round after another like this wasn't easy.

 

"MYSTIC MAGES!"

 

Sora looked up at the Heartless that appeared in the arena. One of them was new. It looked like a light bulb, with three eyes and a pair of bright feathery and shining wings.

 

"Should we call those Angel Stars?" Jiminy asked.

 

"Not now!" Donald shouted.

 

Then before the fight began a massive black shape appeared from over the side of the arena and squashed all of the Heartless flat.

 

Sora fell on his bum as he saw all three of Cerberus's heads staring at him. Snarling.

 

"Hey!" Panic called. "Don't interrupt the matches you dumb mutt!"

 

"Yeah, yours was next anyway!" Pain added.

 

Cerberus's heads glared at the imps then grabbed one of the pillars around the stage in one of its mouths before tossing it at the box.

 

It went well over their heads, and over the walls of the stadium, but the imps ducked anyway, cowed by the violent action.

 

"Cerberus, sit." Persephone commanded authoritatively from her seat in the box.

 

Cerberus's heads blinked, then looked at each other, then grinned and jumped at the box, wagging their tail happily.

 

Persephone smiled at the massive hound. "I know you missed me, I missed you too." Then her expression hardened, and for a moment- _did her skin just turn red? And was that **flame** around the crown of her head?_ "And I told you to **SIT!** "

 

Cerberus sat.

 

Persephone calmed immediately and addressed the nervous audience in the stands. "Please evacuate in an orderly fashion, the next bracket will be held here later tonight."

 

People filed out of the arena in a panic, and Cerberus's heads watched them all go, and seemed to whine at the prospect of not being able to play.

 

"Cerberus." Persephone said as she pointed at Sora.

 

The massive hell-hound turned to where its mistress indicated and immediately its eyes narrowed and it started to growl in recognition.

 

Persephone smiled wickedly, and Sora very pointedly did not even look at Kairi, or tease her about her blush, or her nosebleed, which was why her hitting him in the back of the head was totally uncalled for.

 

"Go fetch." Persephone commanded.

 

"Nice doggy..." Sora tried.

 

It didn't work.

 

* * *

 

 All of Cerberus's heads snapped at Sora at once, only to get in each other's way when Kairi pulled the keybrat back by the arm.

 

Hades smirked as he lit his cigar in the best seat of the house. His new throne on Mount Olympus. Pyros as his heating, Stratos as his A/C, and Zeus as his footstool.

 

He technically was a competitor too, but all his opponents up to this point had forfeited (admittedly because they were Heartless, he controlled them, and he told them to) and he could teleport, so why not live it up and get a look at the competition?

 

He paused and took a moment to dig his heels in.  _Why didn't I do this sooner?_  He thought.

 

_...Oh, yeah, right. I **did,** but then a bratty 18-year-old and a trio of useless minions  **LOUSED IT UP!**_

 

...But, hey. All that was over now. It's been 8 years. Now things were looking up, even if Maleficient's little venture had gone sour quick.

 

Donald hit Cerberus in one of his noses, and Goofy held onto one of the necks for dear life as it thrashed about.

 

...Okay, so not much competition there then.

 

Cerberus spewed darkness into the ground, and as Kairi rolled away from one puddle, she saw one of the heads heading towards Sora, so she threw her keyblade at the dog's ear, causing it to whimper as it struck.

 

Sora caught her keyblade, so she summoned her other one, just in time for one of the heads to snatch her up in its jaws.

 

Hades grinned, then frowned when he realized that she was still in there, and had propped the mouth open with her keyblade. Cerberus tried to bite down harder, but found that keyblades made from the hearts of seven princesses didn't break that easily.

 

Hades did not like where this was going.

 

Kairi crawled out of the beast's mouth, then, when the dog head snarled at her and tried to bite down on the obstruction one more time, she summoned her keyblade back to her hand and the head ended up biting on its own tongue.

 

The head made a pitiful whine and for a moment, Hades couldn't see straight.

 

Then Cerberus stepped on her legs with one of his paws as it stomped around in pain and, hey, that was pretty funny, right?

 

"Kairi!" Sora called, only to get smacked into the stands by Cerberus's tail as it whipped around.

 

Even better.

 

"B-balloon."

 

Kairi had dragged herself out of Cerberus's path, and as she held her keyblade out, a bunch of pink and green and orange balloons appeared around a pair of Cerberus's ears.

 

The balloons popped, and Cerberus whined again.

 

Goofy pulled out a whistle and leaned to the side around the head he was on and blew right between a pair of the dog's heads.

 

Hades growled. Clever little brats.

 

Then Sora came charging in and slashed at the eyes of Cerberus's middle head, and plugged both keyblades into the head's nostrils.

 

"Firaga!"

 

Smoke escaped from the head's nose and mouth, the middle head's eyes rolled back, and it passed out.

 

The other two heads were less than pleased.

 

Cerberus jumped into the air, and ended up landing with a paw on Kairi's legs again, and Hades grinned a little as she screamed until she passed out.

 

Too bad Maleficent's little protege had been bodysnatched by her pet Heartless, otherwise he'd have loved to record this and show it to him.

 

Cerberus's heads looked like they were about to fight over which of them got to eat the unconscious girl, but got interrupted by Persephone.

 

"Cerberus, no. Daddy wants her alive for his plans."

 

Hades wasn't actually too bothered by it, now that he had what he really wanted and Maleficent was out of the picture, but he supposed he could use a heart of pure light for something around here.

 

Keep it out of the hands of that creepy brown robe guy currently cosplaying as an albino, halfpint pretty boy, at least.

 

And, hey, maybe Sephie wanted a friend. Which was fine. She probably needed one. It's not like he had any friends when he was a young god her age, and look how he turned out.

 

He dug his heels into his brother's spine again as he puffed on his smoke. _Geez that's morbid. I wanted to get out of the Underworld to get **away** from all that._

 

"Water!" Donald screamed as a jet of water streamed from his staff and into the dog's closest face. The head just blinked stupidly, unable to comprehend that the tiny, delicious little bird had just tried to _squirt_ at him like he was still a puppy.

 

Both of the outermost heads lunged towards Donald so they were on either side of him, and backed him against the wall. Then they licked him so he was soaking wet. Then they barked, and waves of sound and force bombarded him from both sides, deafening him. Then the dog slapped him with one paw, and the saliva ended up making him slippery enough to slide across the ground when he landed, causing him to collide with Goofy running forward to help.

 

Sora reached for them, but the watchdog was in his way. Cerberus's remaining heads both snapped at Sora and he slashed them both in the eyes and nose with each keyblade as he jumped back. He jumped over them, as high as he could, and they ended up bumping into each other trying to reach him. He hit them on top of the skull with both of his weapons and, finally, raised his keyblades in the air.

 

"Thundaga!" Sora cast, and Hades started to panic for a moment as Zeus stirred briefly beneath his feet.

 

**"NO! STAY _IN_ THERE!"**

 

Pyros added a little bit more lava, and Stratus dried it while Hades backed away, watching as more lava filled the glowing cracks and then expanded and cooled until-

 

 **"HADES!"** Zeus roared as his head briefly broke free, before the additional layers of lava surrounded him and encased him and solidified.

 

Hades sighed in relief, before glancing back at his Tartarus Vision. The match was over. Cerberus was unconscious. Goofy was helping support Kairi stumble out of the arena, while Sora carried Donald.

 

Hades glanced at his Titans. "Keep an eye on things up here for me, will ya?"

 

He didn't wait for a response as he left for the arena. Not that the Titans would have given one anyway.

 

* * *

 

 

Kairi stretched her leg and flexed her foot as she sat on the stairs to the coliseum.

 

 

Then suddenly Sora sat down beside her. "Feeling better?" Sora asked from her side.

 

"A bit, yeah" she said. "Thanks for healing it."

 

Sora shrugged. "No big deal."

 

"Alright Kairi, time for your magic lesson." Donald said as he walked back from their stadium apartment, scrolls and tomes in wing.

 

"Shouldn't we have done that earlier? I'm kinda tired." Kairi said, faking a yawn.

 

Donald frowned. "We would have this morning, but _you weren't wearing any pants._ "

 

Kairi stared. "But Donald, you never wear pants."

 

"You were naked!" Donald said.

 

Kairi crossed her arms. "Yeah, I have to bathe sometime."

 

"Pah, who needs baths when you can clean yourself with magic." Donald said, flapping his wing dismissively. "Much more convenient on long trips and journeys, less time consuming."

 

Sora and Kairi stared. "Can we clean our clothes like that too?" Sora asked.

 

"Sure. Mine are self-cleaning." Donald said.

 

Kairi frowned. "So are you going to teach me how to do that?" she said, dreading the answer.

 

"Nope." Donald said much to her relief.

 

"First, I think you need to learn more about water magic."

 

* * *

 

"But what is she doing here!?"

 

"I already told you, I don't know!"

 

"...You don't know?"

 

The Fates jumped, stopped their argument to glance at the newcomer. Their eye dropped out of the grasp of Lachesis, the tallest, and it rolled to the ground at the foot of the long, black and smoky chiton of their visitor.

 

"Hades," greeted Clotho brightly.

 

"We weren't expecting you..." Atropos began, only to freeze up and clutch her hands to her mouth.

 

"You _weren't_!?" Hades said, a look of shock on his face.

 

The Fates stared at him with their eyeless faces, and he stared back in turn.

 

"Why so jumpy? I thought nobody ever caught you ladies off their guard." Hades asked.

 

"Yes, well." Clotho began.

 

"That was before the redhead got her keyblade _this_ year and ripped the tapestry to tatters!" Lachesis snapped.

 

Hades blinked. "I'm sorry, what happened now?"

 

The Fates sighed.

 

_When a declaration of protection she made_

_She restored and healed, but behind she stayed_

_Left alone she was, for a year or more,_

_Separated was the distant sea, while empty sky and horizon shore,_

_(Fraught though they are, and foolish, and the many bindings they wore)_

_Together they fought, and without her, opened the door._

 

 "Great, sure, now what does all that mean exactly?" Hades asked.

 

"That girl isn't doing what she was supposed to!" Clotho shouted.

 

"And since then nothing we've seen happen is happening!" Lachesis added.

 

"Destiny is up to chance." Atropos finished.

 

"So what you're telling me, is that, ever since she got her own keyblade, before you saw she was supposed to, nobody needs you three anymore."

 

The three stared silently as Hades picked up their eye.

 

"That, in other words, 'fate', as a concept, is." There was a wicked smirk as he held the eye between the tips of the nails at the end of his fingers.

 

"Dead."

 

Hades pierced the eye with his nails, then crushed it in his fist, then burned it to cinders.

 

The three continued to stand silently as Hades stared at them. Until, finally, he turned and left them in silence.

 

* * *

 

 "ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! OUR LAST MATCH OF THE NIGHT!"

 

Kairi smiled. These last few matches had gone really well.

 

"Next up! Cloud And Leon!"

 

 "So, you guys found Cloud" Sora said with a grin.

 

"Unfortunately, yes." Leon replied. "And he's as unpleasant as ever."

 

"Bit rich coming from you" Cloud shot back, smirking slightly.

 

"START!"

 

Cloud lunged forward at Kairi, colliding with Goofy's shield, as the dog-man came forward to protect her, ducking to allow Kairi to jump over him and slam her keyblade down on the blonde swordsman's head.

 

"It's Over!" Leon yelled as he slashed forward and Sora tried to parry it, but as the gunblade crossed the keyblade it exploded and shook, jolting Sora's arm.

 

Cloud shook his head, but as Kairi tried to thrust forward with both hands on the handle he jumped back and slashed down, knocking her keyblade towards the ground, then slashed from side to side, cutting through her bangs as she leaned back, then brought his sword down diagonally as she raised hers up in a guard, his weapon bouncing off of hers, allowing her to spin her keyblade around and cut forward past him, slashing his scarf and hair and bruising his arms and torso.

 

"Fira!" Donald cast, sending a fireball at Leon, who spun around and knocked the attack back at the duck before pointing his weapon at Sora and firing again, igniting the arc of his spin and causing an explosion all around him.

 

Kairi jumped and tried to slam her keyblade down on Cloud again, but he deftly dodged to the side. "That the best you can do?" he taunted, before slicing the air, sending a shockwave from his blade that Kairi ended up absorbing into her barrier.

 

"This is it." Cloud spun around and created a tornado around himself, which he threw forward so it impacted with Kairi, pushing her back.

 

"Stars, rain down" Cloud said, as he held his blade aloft, and meteors fell from the sky in a continuous the assault on Kairi's barrier.

 

Then there was an explosion of light and Cloud and Leon were knocked back. Kairi panted, and sank to one knee. Keeping that shield together was draining.

 

"Farewell." Cloud said, his wing extending and orange sparks dancing around him.

 

"Power!" Leon shouted, his gunblade raise, shining white energy making the weapon glow and forming an extended blade.

 

Leon swung his sword and caught Donald in the chest, sending him flying, where Cloud flew towards him and slammed him towards the ground.

 

Goofy caught the unconscious Donald as he fell then, when Cloud zoomed toward Kairi, he dove in front of her, shield out, weathering Cloud's storm of blows.

 

"Wind!" Sora called, forming a shield of air around himself as he rolled to intercept Leon on his way towards Kairi and the others. Leon brought his blade downward and Sora caught it over his head with his keyblade, then stepped forward and kicked Leon's knee out from under him.

 

The gunblader was surprised as he fell back, but caught himself with one hand and handspringed back to his feet. Sora slid forward rapidly and caught Leon in the ribs as he went past, then spun around and attacked again, catching the older man in the back of the knee. Sora zoomed back and forth, hitting Leon each time before, finally, he stood behind him and jumped and hit him in the back of the head.

 

Cloud was slashing furiously at Goofy's shield, but the knight stood firm, until, finally, the onslaught finished and Cloud stood panting. Goofy grinned slightly.

 

"Come on. Gimme your best shot." Cloud challenged.

 

Goofy spun around and slammed his shield into Cloud's face. Cloud's nose looked pretty squashed for a moment, and his eyes were unfocused. Goofy gripped his shield on the sides in both hands then jumped up and brought the shield's edge into the crown of the swordsman's head.

 

Leon and Cloud swayed from side to side before both fell over at once, unconscious.

 

"AND THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS!"

 

* * *

 "Aw, they look so sweet." Pain cooed as he watched the sleeping quartet. "Oh well."

 

"WAKEY WAKEY EGGS AND BACEY!" the imps shouted, startling the group of junior heroes further by jumping on them.

 

Kairi slowly blinked, her mouth full of Sora's hair as she turned to look at the visitors.

 

"Time to get up kiddos!" Panic greeted, grinning in her face.

 

"Yeah! You've got a match in five minutes." Pain added.

 

"But uh." Goofy said. "You said we'd done the last match of the night."

 

The imps nodded. "Yeah, and now it's morning!" Pain said.

 

"Twelve O'Clock AM exactly!" Panic said.

 

* * *

 

 "THE LARGE TRIO!"

 

Kairi stood in front of a Large Body and, taking a baseball stance, she swung her keyblade as hard as she could at the monster's gut. Her keyblade went into the creature's mass, then rebounded backward, sending her spinning, as the Heartless swung its arm and hit her in the face.

 

"BLAZE BANDITS!"

 

A Red Nocturne wreathed in frame zoomed forward and caught Kairi in her exposed midriff as she screamed as her already inflamed skin burned even further.

 

"FALSE ANGELS!"

 

A Wyvern flew towards Goofy, and Kairi jumped on its back, sliding her keyblade around its neck, steering it into its allies as it clawed wildly. The Heartless flew towards an Angel Star charging an attack, and as the false angel unleashed a shining purple tornado the Wyvern flew through it and into the Angel Star, causing both to expire simultaneously.

 

"VIOLENT BUNCH!"

 

Kairi stared at the large man-shaped Heartless wielding a sword.

 

"I'll call it... an Invisible!" Jiminy declared from his spot in Sora's hood.

 

Goofy looked at it dubiously. "But... we can see it just fine, can't we?"

 

The demonic creature flew forward and cut through the Wizards and Large Bodies that were its allies, and extended a hand in a familiar manner that made Sora and Kairi's blood run cold, closing its fingers towards itself, its meaning clear:  _Come and get me._

 

Kairi rolled forwards under the creature's first slash, only to get backhanded aside. Sora jumped and tried to strike with his keyblade, but the Invisible parried the slash and countered by thrusting forward, impacting against Sora's necklace and chest and sending him backwards.

 

The Invisible flew over to Donald and thrust its sword into the ground, through Donald's tail feathers and disappeared, becoming a ring of darkness and black fireballs around Donald.

 

"Waak! Get away from me!" Donald cried, as he helplessly tried to bat away the creature's presence, until the ring contracted, burning against Donald as the creature re-materialized with the court wizard in its grip.

 

"Donald!" Goofy called as he threw his shield at the creature's face, but before the attack could land, the Invisible threw its own weapon and then disappeared, Donald falling to the ground and the sword flying through the air seemingly of its own power, Goofy dodged around it when it flew towards him, but it turned in midair and caught him in the back. Kairi grabbed his shield from the ground and blocked the sword as it continued to attack the prone royal knight, until finally, as Kairi summoned her barrier, a dark ring materialized around them, and the Invisible reappeared, grabbing its sword and slamming it downward creating a massive shockwave.

 

Kairi let her barrier explode, seemingly knocking the Heartless out as it slumped forward in midair. Sora lept at the creature and spun in a backflip as he attacked with his keyblade, and Kairi attacked with bursts of rainbow light.

 

The Invisible twitched and shuddered under the onslaught, but finally it awoke and a storm of lightning erupted around it, knocking them back.

 

It raised its sword into the air and balls of darkness fell from the sky, bombarding the ground around them. Sora knocked the projectiles back with his keyblade, then finally destroyed the monster with several shards of ice as he cast a Blizzaga spell at point blank range.

 

"The odds aren't looking too good for our competitors folks!" Panic gloated.

 

"Yeah, they had a bunch of trouble with just ONE Invisible. If they can make it a few more rounds they're going to have to go up against three!"

 

 _They're right about things not looking too good_ , Kairi thought as she took a drink from a bottle of Ether.

 

* * *

 

 

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THE MOMENT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! GIVE IT UP FOR YOUR GOD! KING OF THE COSMOS!  THE ONE, THE ONLY-"

 

 **"BOYS!"** Hades interrupted and erupted. "I can do MY! OWN!  **INTRO!** _THANKS!"_

 

"Go get 'em daddy!" Persephone called.

 

Hades seemed to calm slightly at that. "Thanks, sweetie." he said, a silly grin on his face.

 

Donald snickered and Hades whirled around with a glare, before carefully schooling his expression and addressing the audience. "Yo, hey, how’re you doin’ everybody, yeah."

 

 _A lot more understated than his imps,_ Kairi noted.

 

"Got a minute? Hades, former Lord of the Dead. Nice to see you." Suddenly she realized he was right next to her, his arms drapped around her and Sora's shoulders. She fumed as she realized where his hand was on her chest, before he suddenly vanished and was on the other side of the arena again.

 

"Hey, guess what?" he asked, but before anyone could he pressed onward, his skin and hair turning red: "I got a place for you _down under_!"

 

Kairi got into her stance, but a minute passed and she realized Hades wasn't doing anything, just staring at her, his angry expression slowly becoming more contemplative.

 

"Y'know..." Hades finally began, cooling a lot more to his usual blue. "It strikes me that one on four isn't exactly the fairest fight, even if it is a bunch of meddling kids and their dog."

 

Goofy scowled at that.

 

"PAIN! PANIC!" Hades shouted, causing the imps to flinch and return to their seats from where they were hiding under them.

 

"Yes, your monstrosity?" Panic began nervously.

 

"Boys, tell the folks to stay in their seats, I'm calling in Rule 2."

 

Suddenly, the ground started shaking. 

 

"But, if the audience stays in their seats-" Pain started.

 

Hades eyed a group of adults and kids, probably a family, in the front row and snapped his fingers and pointed, sparks of flame erupting from his fingertips as he did so, smirking all the while. "And what do ya think'll happen if they don't?" he asked, as the stomping grew louder and louder and then stopped.

 

Finally, Sora gasped and Kairi looked at what got his attention. A massive set of long fingers, more like claws made of ice appeared at the top of the stadium's wall, and a massive figure pulled its way over the top.

 

It was massive, and made of ice, and its face was like a skull. It had a pair of icy ribs sticking out of the sides of its torso, and its feet were like glaciers.

 

"Yeah, I know, it might have taken me ten years but! I've finally got myself a REAL Titan! Say hello, boys and girls to the one and only Hydros!" Hades preened, as the audience shrieked in fear, the frozen gods noticeably paled and Hydros stepped its way into the center of the arena.

 

"Yeah, it's such a shame the Bluebird couldn't make it tonight." Hades said with a flourish.

 

"I guess the Cardinals will have to do!"

 

Hydros sweeped its arms and icicles appeared in front of it quickly, barely giving Sora time to block.

 

"All yours, frosty." Hades snarked, gliding out of the way.

 

"Waterga!" Kairi cast and unleashed a high-pressure stream at the God, putting out his hair and knocking him against the wall.

 

Hades roared and turned red as the water turned to steam, and he started blasting fire at Kairi, who rolled forwards towards him, her keyblade covered in ice and hit the fireballs back towards him and slashed him in the hip.

 

Hades growled and punched at her, only for Kairi to roll out of the way as Hydros breathed a blast of cold air and ice, instantly freezing the steam and Hades himself. 

 

"NHT. AGHN." Hades grunted through the ice. 

 

"Firaza!" Donald cast, and pelted the Titan's face with fireball after fireball, each shot exploding massively. When Hydros retaliated with ice shards, Goofy defended the duck and deflected the attacks back towards their source.

 

The Titan slumped over, and Sora and Kairi smashed its head back and forth towards each other before firing blast after blast of golden, rainbow and white light at its prone form.

 

Kairi landed on the creature's arm, when suddenly a fireball impacted against the slightly blackened part of her top and torso where she'd been burned earlier, turning the magically healed redness back into angry blisters.

 

Kairi howled, and the Titan caught in the explosion followed suit, sending shockwaves of cold and ice about as it stood back up and stomped, retaliating against Hades for injuring it by grabbing the Olympian in its claws.

 

"Not me you imbecile, THEM!" Hades shouted, bursting into flames and igniting the frozen hand around him.

 

Hades fell to the ground, and his arm turned to black smoke that Kairi found she couldn't avoid. Before she knew it the smoky tendrils were a red hand, the nails digging into her cheeks and the heat blistering her skin as the Lord of the Underworld gripped her by the face.

 

"Maleficent may have wanted your heart, but MALEFICENT ISN'T HERE!" Hades shouted. "And even if she WAS, the REST OF YOU!? Is fair game! Capiche!?"

 

Kairi's eyes were watering from the pain, but she couldn't open her mouth enough to respond, as his grip held her cheeks in such a way that she couldn't form the proper words, but she could move her jaw enough to get her message across.

 

So she bit him in the middle finger. The keyblade in her hand empowering the rest of her enough that the strongest muscle in her body had enough force and magic behind it to make the immortal's digit bend and then snap.

 

"RAAAAAGH!" Hades roared, dropping Kairi to the ground. Sora came up and dragged her back by the armpits, popping a hi-potion in her mouth which she gratefully drank from, tears still streaming down her healing cheeks as the smell of burnt flesh slowly dissipated.

 

Hydros slammed its hand to the ground and a wave of ice erupted from underneath them, heading past into the stands where it froze solid a wild-eyed and -haired young man trying to pull on a pair of wax wings to escape.

 

A massive clump of ice appeared above Sora's head, and Kairi pushed him out of the way and rolled away from the attack herself, only for a second ice-mass to appear above Sora and freeze him solid anyway.

 

"Typical guy, amirite?" Hades drawled, suddenly behind her, his hand digging into her shoulder. "Won't let you handle anything yourself and when you try to help out, he just gives you the cold shoulder."

 

Kairi spun around and lashed out with her keyblade and found the attack went right through Hades, his body turning to smoke.

 

"What, too obvious? I was gonna go with one about he's 'hard' or 'finishes too fast' but I wanted to keep it classy, y'know, clean, for the kids."

 

"Waterga!" Kairi cast, dousing Hades and putting out his hair. He seemed less than pleased, but quickly brought back his sleazy grin.

 

"But, I mean, it's not like you weren't asking for it, right?" Hades said. "I mean, girl like you, leading guys on like that? Yikes."

 

"Shut up!" Kairi yelled, throwing her ice-enchanted keyblade at Hades.

 

"Hey, I know, the truth hurts" Hades pressed onward as the keyblade went through his torso. "Just ask Cassan- URK!"

 

Hades was interrupted by the keyblade boomeranging back, the frozen blade hitting him in the crown of the head, leaving a nasty bruise and freezing his scalp solid. Meanwhile, in the audience, the seer Cassandra, from her spot (unfortunately) next to the (fortunately) frozen Icarus, smiled. Somewhat uncharacteristically, it must be said. It was nice to have someone unforeseeable around for a change.

 

Hades panted, and screamed, turning red, but instead of being engulfed in flame, the flames sputtered into sparks and died out.

 

Hades glared venomously at Kairi as she caught her returning weapon, but fixed his grin back on his face and kept going. "I mean, it feels like it was only yesterday that Mr. Shoreline Combo showed up,  _begging_ for a way to help his little gal pal." Kairi stared, and Hades tried not to grin wider and give the game away.  _Bingo._

 

 "Kairi! A little help!" Donald squawked, his feet frozen solid as he continued to pelt the Titan with fireballs through its icy breath.

 

"And, hey, he makes a deal with some -admittedly- unscrupulous strangers, and agrees to a few odd jobs here and there and, bada-bing, you get your heart back. And he loses his. Little bit of fine print there, but a deal's a deal."

 

Kairi glared. "You knew."

 

Hades ignored her. "And what's the next thing you do? Little miss Nautical Mile herself just goes running off with the next boy that comes along, leaving your boyfriend to his fate, and after all he did for you-"

 

"You KNEW!" Kairi screeched as she kicked Hades between the legs and jumped on him as he went down. Then, sitting on his stomach, she punched him and headbutted him and attacked him with her keyblade and magic as she continued to scream.

 

"You KNEW about Ansem! What he was planning to do to Riku!" Hades was not at this point able to articulate a response, but if he had, the answer was, yes, oversized Possessor Heartless in a brown robe skulking around Maleficent's clubhouse wasn't hard to miss. They'd bumped into each other in the Lift Stop a few times, Maleficent had some sort of deal with him, he was clearly lacking in the body department and needed a new one, not all that hard to work out.

 

"You KNEW I was one of the princesses! That there was no way Riku could gather all of seven them to save me, because if he could, I'd already be saved!" Kairi gritted through her teeth as she held her keyblade up high. Hades just grinned, and nodded over her shoulder.

 

Kairi looked behind her to see that Donald and Goofy were frozen solid, and Hydros's hand was heading right for her.

 

She looked back at Hades as he raised his hand to her forehead and flicked her in the brow, sending her flying from the impact and right into the Titan's hand.

 

Thankfully, the massive ice creature was a bit slow to close its fingers, and she pulled herself up onto its wrist then ran up its shoulders, as Hades turned bright red and exploded the ice-cap off his top, the heat of his temper melting Sora, Donald, and Goofy, as well as the ice Titan's foot as it was taking a step. Hydros slipped and fell, its head crashing into the coliseum's wall, as Kairi held on to the spikes on its shoulder. Eventually she climbed her way up to its neck, and with keyblade wreathed in flame, slashed down and smashed through the creature's face, as Donald and Sora attacked it with the strongest Fire spells they had.

 

There was a cloud of steam and a rush of water, as the ice Titan seemingly melted, and Hades briefly roared in fury, as a tidal wave of the Titan's body carried him through the gates of the stadium's hypogeum, the massive iron bars shutting behind him.

 

They could hear his voice from the outside, as he seemed to slowly regain awareness. "Oh! Hey, kid, wh-what are you doing?" he asked, as figures in the dark surrounded him.

 

"Stop!" He spat out.  "Hey, guys! G-Get away from me! Come on! Come on!" there were sounds of a struggle that ended up fading under the roar of the crowd around them.

 

Kairi helped Sora up, as the steam cleared and something bumped into them. Looking down, they saw it was Hydros, his body still whole, but significantly smaller, about the size of one of their feet. Kairi glanced at Sora, and he grinned back, and together they chased the shrunken Titan, trying to be the first to step on it.

 

"Woo!~ Go Kairi!" Persephone cheered into her microphone, and then wolf-whistled, her face flushed. "Call me after the tournament, we can go on a trip to Lesbos together!" This declaration prompted the entrapped round green goddess to glare at at the rather thinner pink and golden one similarly trapped next to her, as well as the winged purple demigod on the other side.

 

"What?" asked Aphrodite (Aphrodite, Aphrodite Aphroditeeeee~ The Goddess of Love!~) and her son Eros simultaneously.

 

Pain and Panic stared at their boss, at they tried to process what just happened to their other boss, until finally Pain cleared his throat. "Sapphistry aside, THE WINNER IS-"

 

"Oh this is bad, this is bad this is BAD!" Panic rambled into his own microphone. "Hades isn't supposed to lose in _his own tournament!_ He's not going to be happy when he gets out of there."

 

"You mean, if-" Pain started.

 

"NO! I MEAN _WHEN!_ HE _ALWAYS_ GETS OUT!"

 

"Ah, he won't be that mad at us. He still needs us. The mortals will get it a lot worse." Pain reasoned, somewhat dampening the celebratory mood for all the mortals in the audience.

 

"Like _HADES_ he needs us! Not when he has _them_!" Panic said, pointing towards the magma and wind covered Mount Olympus in the distance.

 

Pain glanced at the mountain of the gods and then gulped. "So, what, yeah, he has the Titans now, but they're down by one and-"

 

"AND THAT STILL LEAVES THREE LEFT!" Panic yelled.

 

"And the cyclops..." Pain trailed off.

 

The imps stared at each other for a moment. "Right, three left." Pain finally agreed.

 

"So, what I'm saying is, so long as Hades still ultimately controls the cosmos we're goners, and the only way for him to get kicked out of power is to lose control of another Titan." Panic summarized.

 

"Which means our only hope is..." Pain said as the two looked back at the arena.

 

The imps gulped, glanced at each other and nodded. This would be the most disgusting and embarrassing thing they had ever done, but sometimes, sacrifices have to be made.

 

"GO SORA!" Pain cheered.

 

"YOU CAN DO IT!" Panic encouraged.

 

* * *

 

 

After a few more matches, (including a round with ten Invisibles at once), they finally reached the last fight.

 

"AND NOW! THE CHAMPIONSHIP BOUT!"

 

"HE'S LARGE! AND HE'S IN CHARGE!"

 

"GIVE IT UP FOR THE TITAN OF ROCK:"

 

"LYTHOS!"

 

Goofy frowned. "I thought he'd be bigger," he said, sounding oddly disappointed. "I've gone rock climbing on bigger."

 

The two-headed Titan glanced at the dog-man and was oddly affronted by his lack of awe. It took a big step forward and hovered its foot over Goofy, and brought the foot down again. There was a shockwave from the force, and the knight disappeared from view underneath the giant's heel.

 

"Goofy!" everyone cried out.

 

"No." Donald muttered. Sora and Kairi cried.

 

Then suddenly the Titan looked down as its foot seemed to move of its own accord. The massive leg lifted up, Goofy holding his shield up under it, and as Goofy pushed, Lythos fell back onto its rear.

 

Goofy climbed his way up the foot, digging his shield in like a pick, and, stunned, the others scrambled after him.

 

"Handhold! Foothold!" Goofy chanted as he climbed his way up, slamming his shield and digging it into the cliff face of the Titan's body whenever he could, until finally he got to the heads.

 

"At least there's no narrators." Goofy said, before he started smacking both of the heads with his shield.

 

"Graviza!" Donald cast, smashing a wave of force around the heads.

 

"Thundaga!" Sora yelled, summoning bolts of lightning to explode around the feet.

 

"Waterga!" Kairi shouted, eroding the creature's body into sand wherever she could.

 

"Aeroza!" Donald cast, surrounding all of them in a massive, rapid and sharp shield made of wind, cutting chunks and flakes off of Lythos whenever it brushed against them.

 

Goofy closed one eye and aimed the way he always knew. "It's about staying focused on yer goal!" He cried, as he threw the shield, still coated in wind, at one head, where it bounced off and into the other, rebounding into the stands and back to one of the Titan's hands, then a foot, then the other hand, then the other foot, before, finally, bouncing off the sand and between Lythos's legs, cutting the Titan in two.

 

Lythos roared as Goofy grabbed his friends and climbed back down, the massive rock Titan shaking and struggling to keep its body together, pieces of rock and pebbles raining down, as Goofy walked forward confidently and collected his shield from the ground. Goofy's eyes were narrowed as he examined the shield, then the Titan's foot, until, finally, he struck Lythos one more time right where its ankle would be.

 

The living mountain fell apart and collapsed into a pile of sand and rubble.

 

The audience and Goofy's allies were speechless.

 

Goofy continued to frown as a pebble rolled to a stop by his boots.

 

"I never liked rock climbing." Goofy grumbled.

 

"Hey, Sora, babe, mind letting us out now?" asked a blue god with wings on his hat and a pair of sunglasses.

 

"YEAH!"

 

"OUR HEROES!" Pain, Panic and Persephone all shouted.

 

* * *

 

 

The rest of that night was busy with freeing all of the various gods and goddesses, but the day after was a blur of celebration.

 

"We're the champs!" Sora had called, pulling her into a hug next to Hercules and Phil. People were cheering, Hades showed back up for a moment and was greeted with a blizzard spell to the hair.

 

The other Gods were oddly quiet. Donald grumbled and grumped for a long time about not getting the proper amount of reward or attention.

 

That last one wasn't mitigated until their last day.

 

"Hey."

 

Kairi blushed as she paused on her way to the bath, and was suddenly very grateful for the fact that she'd brought a towel.

 

So, she turned, making sure her towel was wrapped around her, and saw the goddess of spring (and her dreams) leaning against the doorway.

 

"Hey," she replied lamely.

 

"Hey." Persephone repeated.

 

The two stood there staring at each other.

 

"It's nice to meet you." Kairi said, extending her hand and accidentally dropping her change of clothes to the floor.

 

Before she could make any move to get them, Persephone returned her grip, causing Kairi to flush even further, if that were possible. "It's nice to meet you." Persephone said genuinely. "I don't usually meet a lot of heroines."

 

"Thanks. I don't usually meet a lot of gods." Kairi said. "Er, goddesses, I mean."

 

Persephone smiled. "I hear that there's a poetry recital over in Athens. The works of Sappho on the amorous love between women." Kairi's nose was bleeding now, she knew it.

 

"I'd love to go!" Kairi squeaked.

 

"Good!" Persephone said, cheerfully. "Maybe afterwards we can go for a walk in the gardens, and if you want I can show you a little trick my uncle Zeus taught me about what mortals can do with gods that can become golden showers-"

 

"Gold?" Donald asked, poking his head out of the door to their room.

 

Persephone's grin became strained at the sight of the duck. "Er."

 

"Nevermind." Donald said, turning around and away from the embarrassing scene. Kids these days.

 

Sora walked out next, towel around his hips and not even bothering with the spare clothes, and Kairi grinned in fond exasperation. "You guys going out for some poetry? I'd love to go!"

 

Persephone's smile seemed even more strained. Suddenly, she was pushing Kairi against the column, their lips were together for a moment, when their noses bumped, and then their foreheads, but instead of being deterred Persephone leaned back in, and Kairi pushed the goddess away as Sora tried to pull her off-

 

There was a flash, and in Sora's place was a small shrub. Kairi stared.

 

"Sorry." Persephone said, seeming slightly annoyed but not especially regretful. "Didn't quite mean to do that. When will you be ready?"

 

"What?"

 

"For me to pick you up, silly!" Persephone giggled.

 

"Change him back." Kairi said simply.

 

Persephone frowned. "Sure, maybe later, but-"

 

Kairi grabbed the goddess by the straps of her attire. "Change my friend back, please."

 

Persephone smiled slightly. "Just a friend?" she asked hopefully.

 

"There's nothing 'just' about having friends." Kairi said. "But yes, 'friend' is one of the things he is to me, so _change him back_."

 

Persephone seemed to look right through her at that moment. Thankfully, she didn't press the issue.

 

"Why do you need him?" she whined, the goddess's face marred by a pout. "If you want kids, I'm a goddess of fertility, we can work something out-"

 

 _I'm fourteen and what is this?_ Kairi thought dazedly before trying one last time. "Sora. Friend. Back. Now. Please."

 

Persephone extended her hand and in an instant Sora was, thankfully, back to normal. He seemed not the worse for wear, and still grinned at Persephone, and only someone who knew him best like Kairi could tell how nervous the experience had made him.

 

"Thanks for changing me back!" He said.

 

"It's no problem. Sorry for changing you in the first place." Persephone said, clearly trying to be polite.

 

"I hope I'll see you again sometime, next time we're here." Kairi said.

 

Persephone frowned, but didn't press this issue either. "That would be nice," she said instead. Then she turned and left, flowers erupting in the wake of her footsteps.

 

Much as she didn't want to, Kairi couldn't help but watch her go.  _Why does she have to look so good?_

 

"Man." Sora said. "I can't believe we found a girl even worse at flirting with girls than you."

 

"Sora?" Kairi asked.

 

"Yeah?"

 

"We're not coming back here without Riku."

 

"Why? Is it because Riku's prettier than you, and maybe she'll go for him instead?"

  

"How do you know she's into pretty?" she shot back. "Maybe she likes my athletic physique" she said while flexing her arms.

 

Sora shrugged. "Maybe, but Riku's buffer than both of us too."

 

Kairi frowned. "You're right. Riku can't ever come here by himself."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was an oddly fun chapter to write, because I actually like the Disney Hercules movie and the TV series for the ways they approach the actual Greek myths, where yeah they change a lot of things and make it a lot more kid friendly but. They also have a lot of fun with it? Especially the TV series. There's some legitimately funny stuff, and some actually interesting takes on some of Greek myth and history.
> 
> I tried to stay more in that vein, but if I got too adult or risque or whatever, tell me! I like and also need criticism!
> 
> Like, with this chapter I was sorta walking a line between the more kid-friendly Disney version of Hercules that admittedly had a fair amount of jokes and innuendo, and the fact that the actual, real life Ancient Greece was a place where women were property and usually married by age 14 or 16. Not the most feminist place/time to visit.
> 
> On the other hand, we get the word "lesbian" from the home of a pretty cool lady who wrote poems named Sappho, and I couldn't pass the chance to reference that up.
> 
> Next chapter: The End of the World. And the end of this fic.
> 
> Stay tuned for the sequel! The direct sequel, I mean. Which I haven't named yet.
> 
> I'm thinking "Chaining the Sea and Sky to the Waves" but. Seems a bit too long. The original Chain of Memories had a three word title.


	7. The End of the Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How does Donald Duck wear earrings???
> 
> Also, I started reading the Kingdom Hearts novels, because my view of "canon" has always been "all of it" so if some of my text is a little too similar then. Sorry? I tried not to lift passages directly but if I was influenced, then.
> 
> ...Okay, that's a lie, there's a line or two I took directly from the novel. And other places where I was inspired.
> 
> Anyway, thanks Tomoco Kanemaki and Yen Press!
> 
> ...Sometimes I wish I had magical potions. Like, not right now, but. Sometimes.
> 
> Also, some of this was sorta inspired by some speedruns I've seen? The idea of characters accidentally finding speedrun strats is sorta funny to me.

"We got everything we need?" Donald asked. "Not just for the source of all darkness, but for when we won't be able to use the Gummi ships afterwards?"

 

Jiminy sighed. "Well, let's go through the list."

 

Everyone nodded.

 

"Sleeping bags?"

 

"Four." Kairi said.

 

"Tents?"

 

"Two." Sora said.

 

"Do we have a prefabricated Cottage?"

 

  
"One."

 

"Potions?"

 

"Ninety."

 

"Hi-potions?"

 

"Same."

 

"Mega-potions?"

 

"About fifty should be enough, right?"

 

"Ethers?"

 

"We've got about 50."

 

"Mega-Ethers?"

 

"About fifty."

 

"Elixirs?"

 

Kairi sighed. "We had to spend a lot of Munny on Orichalcum, (because _somebody's_ nephews are running a racket), "But we managed to make about thirty."

 

"Megalixirs?"

 

Everyone stared at Sora. "We've got six."

 

Goofy nodded gravely. "It'll have to do."

 

  
"Accessories?" Jiminy continued.

 

Donald winced as the Cosmic Art earring he'd had attached to his head dangled.

 

Kairi made sure the Ribbon she and Sora had gotten from those adorable Dalmation puppies was tied securely around her arm.

 

Sora thumped the Heartguard on his chest that Kairi had synthesized.

 

 

Goofy adjusted the Three Stars ring around his finger.

 

Jiminy cross-referenced the checklist with his Journal. "We haven't been able to make all the things the Moogles have recipes for, have we?"

 

Sora shook his head. "Couldn't find any Gales or Stormy Stones."

 

The cricket sighed. There was so much to do and they weren't even trying. "Hygiene products?"

 

Kairi looked through their kits. "You said you had what you needed in your size, so for the rest of us, we've got four toothbrushes, four tubes of toothpaste, four bars of soap, four bottles of shampoo, four bath towels, four washcloths..."

 

"... _Feminine_ hygiene products?"

 

"Yep." Kairi said simply.

 

"Extra changes of clothes?"

 

Donald and Goofy nodded. Sora and Kairi shook their heads.

 

Jiminy sighed. "Extra underwear, at least?" Sora and Kairi nodded.

 

"What's our new ship model looking like?" Donald asked into the communication panel on the dashboard.

 

"Four Ultima-Gs oughta do ya for Firepower!" came the high-pitched reply.

 

"And if not, there's plenty of Thundaga-G to make up the difference!"

 

"...Can the ship actually fly?" Donald asked into the mike.

 

"Of course, what do ya take us for! It's got a Life-G for a cockpit!"

 

"And a pair of "Holy-G for engines!"

 

 "What else do ya need!?"

 

 

* * *

 

 In the end, the ship they actually went with was just a cockpit and an engine.

 

Kairi took the joystick.

 

"You have to get there without getting hit," Jiminy said from his perch on the readouts.

 

"Uh, Jiminy, I dunno about this" Goofy said. "Are ya sure we need to be making a game out of something like this when our lives and all the worlds are in danger?"

 

"Hey, who's the conscience here again?" Jiminy asked sharply.

 

"Donald! Stop this right now!" came a feminine, somehow quack-like voice from the communication panel.

 

"Daisy!" Donald started but Jiminy jumped on the button to shut the radio off.

 

"Go!"

 

The gummi ship zoomed forward, and immediately Heartless ships started appearing in front of them.

 

"LOOK OUT!" Sora yelled, as Kairi weaved the ship between a pair of vessels in a massive formation heading towards them. Kairi grinned and reangled the massive thruster in a small circle just as they passed by, and the pair of ships swerved crashed into each other, and then into their comrades.

 

Sora stared with a blush on his face. Goofy elbowed Donald and whispered "Hormones." Loudly. Donald rolled his eyes.

 

"Everything is hormones with these two." Donald didn't even bother whispering.

 

Kairi blushed at this too, then grimaced and angled the ship toward an oncoming meteor.

 

"I TAKE IT BACK! I TAKE IT ALL BACK! SORA SHOULD DRIVE! WAAAAAAK!"

 

The ship spun and managed to squeeze into a tiny hole in the rock, until finally they shot through the other side, shards of destroyed pursuers scattering harmlessly around them.

 

In front of them was a massive tunnel of rock and gummi which they flew through, the passengers marveling at the crystals and geometry around them.

 

"Kairi, you have to look at this!" Sora asked excitedly.

 

"Sorry," Kairi said as she angled over and around a sharp looking horizontal crystalline stalactite (or was it a stalagmite? What if they're sideways?) "But I've gotta get us there."

 

Sora frowned. "Sucks that you have to miss the view. You liked how pretty things were out here the first time you saw it."

 

"Is that it?" Goofy asked pointing straight ahead. The end of the tunnel was fast approaching, and as expected there was light on the other side, but in the center of that light...

 

Kairi shivered. "Almost there!"

 

They emerged. There it was. The core of the world. The deep, all-consuming darkness.

 

Kairi gripped the control stick tighter, and struggled to keep her hands from shaking.

 

"...Ansem's there somewhere," Sora said.

 

"Probably the King too," Goofy added.

 

"And Riku," said Donald.

 

"Incoming!" Kairi said, as they finally noticed what was in front of their destination.

 

Hundreds, thousands of little white pyramids facing them. All of them with four glowing yellow dots around the centerpoint. Were they eyes? Or cannons? Or both?

 

Then they started firing lasers. So definitely cannons, at least.

 

"Hold on!" Kairi yelled through gritted teeth, then yanked back on the stick.

 

"WAAAAAAAAK!"

 

"YAAAAAA-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOOEEEYYYY!!!"

* * *

 

 

Exiting the quiet cave they arrived in, their heads started to spin.

 

It was like there was nothing but sky all around them, infinitely, in all directions. An endless, twilit expanse like dusk.

 

Donald tiptoed out over the edge, and the surface below rippled like water. "Uh..."

 

"What's that?" Sora asked, indicating an object in the distance. Something was floating like a cloud, and stone pillars stood in rows.

 

"Gawrsh, is this all that's left of the worlds taken by the Heartless?" Goofy asked, staring at where Sora pointed.

 

"Those worlds will be restored if we beat Ansem, right?" Sora said.

 

"You betcha!" Donald replied with unwavering certainty.

 

"But..." Sora started, trailing off.

 

Sora glanced at where Kairi stood, shivering off to the side. She looked so pale, so _sick,_ it reminded him of what she was like in the Secret Place back at the start of all this.

 

Kairi grinned at him, but he could tell it was forced. Her necklace was shining brightly. Shining towards _him_. Like it was _calling_ to him. And the brighter it shone, the weaker Kairi seemed to grow.

 

"...If we do beat him," Sora began. "And all of these worlds are restored and disconnected, what's gonna happen to this place? And to us?"

 

Donald and Kairi both stared at him, worried (in Kairi's case more like _horrified_ ) expressions on their faces as they considered this new possibility.

 

Goofy tried not to roll his eyes. Sometimes his friends were a little slow. "Well, this is a Heartless world, so maybe it'll just disappear. Us too."

 

Kairi blanched, Donald's eyes widened and Sora's jaw dropped, and Goofy chuckled a little. _And sometimes they give up too easily._

 

"But no worries!" he tried to emphasize. "Even if this place goes poof, our hearts ain't goin' nowhere. I'm sure we'll find our pals again. Yup," he nodded "I just know that we will!"

 

Kairi nodded, and gripped her thalassa shell charm in her hand, as it glowed brightly, seemingly making the light of her necklace fade in turn. "Yeah," she said, her voice hoarse. "You're right."

 

Donald nodded. "Onward!" he shouted as he ran off into the abyss.

 

The others followed him.

 

And then the Heartless showed up.

 

* * *

 

 

Twenty Invisibles later, the group pressed onward, always on the lookout, jumpy, and twitchy.

 

Sora paused when something overhead cast a massive shadow and looked up. He gasped as he saw the massive ball of darkness overhead, just like the one that destroyed the islands.

 

It fell towards them, and suddenly there was an enormous Heartless, identical to the one in Hollow Bastion's keyhole. A Behemoth.

 

"Not another one!" Donald panted.

 

Goofy hollered and jumped at the creature's face reflecting a blast of energy it released from its horn. Then a firecracker flew past Goofy and exploded in his face, knocking him back to the ground. Then he turned and saw the expression on Donald's face.

 

"Stopza!" Donald yelled. The creature froze.

 

"Graviza! Graviza! Graviza! Graviza! Graviza! GRAVIZA!"

 

Kairi blinked and approached the royal wizard. "Uh Donald!?"

 

"Leave im' be." Goofy said as he pulled her back.

 

The Heartless exploded, and a dim light left its body and floated into the sky.

 

"Eheheheheh!" Donald laughed as the others looked on with worry.

 

Then the light came back down and gathered darkness around it, reforming into another Behemoth. Based on the glare it gave Donald as it snorted hot air into the wizard's face, probably the same Behemoth.

 

"Leave it to us!" Kairi called as she and Sora rushed towards the monster and struck at its horns, distracting it as Donald sat frozen in fear on the ground.

 

Goofy sat down next to his friend and started patting his shoulder. "Feel better?" he asked.

 

Donald glared at him and was about to say something with the Behemoth fell to the ground in front of them before exploding, its heart shining brilliantly this time.

 

Where the creature had impacted was a series of cracks that expanded and then exploded, separating Donald and Goofy from their young charges on either side of a vast fissure.

 

Goofy looked down, as Sora and Kairi glided over next to them. "Think that Ansem feller could have gone down here?"

 

Donald nodded. "Dive into the most dangerous place and we'll find him." Sora's grin suddenly appeared in front of both of them, causing them to jump, and then a force hit them both in the back and they tumbled forward. As they fell, Sora and Kairi and their echoing laughs immediately followed to join them.

 

 _They are so_ _**grounded**!_  

 

* * *

 

 

"You kids alright?" Goofy asked.

 

Sora nodded. "We're fine!"

 

Kairi smiled. "Good thing this pile of feathers broke our fall."

 

 _Feathers? Why would there be- oh **no** they'resittingon **Donald**_  

 

A muffled sound that sounded a lot like "Megaflare" came from Sora and Kairi's seat.

 

The two turned towards each other, both about to accuse the other of passing wind. Then there was an explosion, which ended up defusing the argument before it could begin, and also collapsed the cliff they had landed on and sent them all flying, falling down further into the dark chasm.

 

* * *

 

 

"Ugh, where are we?" Donald groaned.

 

"...Traverse Town!?"

 

Goofy blinked. "How'd that happen?"

 

Sora was on the bottom of the pile this time, Kairi's rear and legs right above his face. He wasn't entirely sure how to broach the subject, but he wouldn't be a good friend if he didn't let her know. "Uh, Kairi?"

 

"Yeah?"

 

"You're bleeding."

 

"...Can we make camp please?"

 

There was a sound of a dark corridor opening, and a dozen Invisibles appeared.

 

_...I guess that's my answer._

 

* * *

 

 

Kairi panted as they left Agrabah, and drunk another potion to dull the cramps.

 

"You alright?" Jiminy asked.

 

Kairi tried to smile. "I'd like to have a safe place to change, but. Sure."

 

"Let's try the next one." Sora said gently, leading her towards the next purple portal.

 

As they went through, Sora found that they were underwater, and he was once more a merman, Goofy a turtle, Donald an octopus from the waist down, Jiminy was a shrimp, and Kairi was still human.

 

She started to panic, as air bubbles rapidly exited her face, her skin turned blue, and Sora grabbed Donald by the shoulders. "Changeherchangeherchangeherchangeher-"

 

"Transform!" Donald yelled, and Kairi glowed and changed.

 

Finally, she panted, taking deep breaths (gulps) of water, which she felt pass through her gills and _wow this is weird_. She tried to move her legs and ended up flipping upside down.

 

Pink tentacles fell into her face.

 

"Cool" Sora grinned, as he reached out to touch her. For a moment she felt threatened (which was absurd, because he was her best friend) and then "OWCH!" Sora cried, as he fled from her, stung.

 

Kairi tried to get a better look at herself. From what she could see, it was like she was wearing a big pink ballgown.

 

She had a bunch of tiny tentacles coming out of her bottom where her legs would be. 

 

She examined herself this way and that, and grinned when she realized what she was: A jelly fish. From the waist down. (Neck down? It covered her front and back a bit too...)

 

A bunch of Heartless appeared and while the others fought them, she only managed to flop over to her side. Swimming without legs was hard.

 

She saw a tiny Sea Neon approaching her, and she managed to slash through it with her keyblade.

 

She felt something near her tentacles and grinned as she grabbed onto it, stinging it with barbs.

 

"KAIRI!"

 

"Oops! Sorry!"

 

She frowned, when there was a disturbance in the water, and she realized that there was a shark heading for her.

 

It was a tiger shark. A kind of shark that ate jellyfish.

 

She watched as the snout came towards her, knowing she'd only have one chance, and punched it right in the nose.

 

The shark whimpered, and Kairi grabbed onto it so that she was along its back and started petting it, her other arm around its bottom jaw/'neck' as she sang to it the way she sang to the sharks back home. Eventually the shark calmed down, and looked at her in confusion. She smiled back at it.

 

"Would you rather be my friend instead?"

 

Sora whistled as he blasted an Invisible _(WHY ARE THEY UNDERWATER!?)_ with a Firaga spell _(UNDERWATER!?)_  "Man, Kai, I think that might be a record with how fast you can domesticate sharks."  _Especially since the others didn't actually want to eat you._

 

Kairi wrapped her tendrils around the shark's torso, and rode it around, light extending down her keyblade like a lance, running back and forth through the Heartless.

 

The shark made one last turn towards a glowing light and Kairi tried to pull it back, they were heading the wrong way-

 

They arrived through the portal back in the World Terminus. Kairi had changed back to normal. The shark was still a shark.

 

She strained against the thing's weight trying not to hurt it. "Help me get him back in!" Kairi asked the others as they emerged. Then Kairi paused, as her hand stilled against the shark's body. "Er, I mean! Her!"

 

Sora and Goofy nodded and got on the other sides of the creature, while Donald used a water spell to keep it alive. "One! Two! Three!" Kairi counted, and the three heaved it back through the portal.

 

Kairi stuck her head back through, and smiled at the creature as it looked back at her warily, whatever spell she had cast on it with her voice broken. "Thanks for the help," she said kindly. "Take care!" she said with a wave. "You little guys too!" she said as she laid her hand on the creature's abdomen when it cautiously approached her.

 

Then she was gone, leaving a very confused tiger shark. With the shark equivalent of a shrug, it then set about to finding another meal.

 

* * *

 

 

Next they were in Halloween Town.

 

Kairi crossed her arms and frowned at Donald.

 

"...What do you want to look like?"

 

"Hey, how come she gets to pick."

 

Donald rolled his eyes and zapped her.

 

Now she had fangs, a ratty skirt secured around her hips by a belt, a brown top, a floppy witch hat with a belt, and a collar with a belt buckle.

 

Kairi grinned. Then fell over when the roulette wheel they were standing on started spinning.

 

Instead of Invisibles, the Heartless that appeared looked like a mismatch of a bunch of different parts, including a large metal drum with the Heartless emblem on the front. One arm was large and thick, the other looked like an accordion, with a pair of scissors at the end. Its waist was comically thin, and its legs were a small pair of glass jars.

 

It was a Chimera, one of the Heartless that had sprung up in the wake of the destruction of Oogie's manor. It slammed the ground and caused a shockwave, knocking everyone back.

 

Sora jumped forward and slammed the keyblade into the top of its body, revealing the head, a glass jar full of shining orbs, which opened, the tiny shrunken heads flying out.

 

Kairi's keyblade came flying through the air and smashed through the glass of the jar, destroying the Heartless and causing it to vanish.

 

Kairi looked more than a little green as she stumbled around, the wheel's spinning slowly stopping.

 

* * *

 

 

As they stepped through the green portal, Donald and Goofy looked around the idyllic woods, confused. "I don't think we've been here before..."

 

"POOH!" Sora and Kairi said excitedly.

 

"...Alright, this seems safe enough for a bathroom break." Donald acknowledged.

 

"I have to change!" Kairi reminded.

 

Donald sighed, put upon. "Alright, then we'll make camp here. Set up the cottage, get out our food and supplies, wash your skirt, hang it up to dry-"

 

Goofy clamped a hand over Donald's bill before he could keep going. "Whatever you need Kairi, it's no trouble."

 

Donald thumped Goofy in the foot and stalked off, mumbling something about "women" and "mammals" as he went.

 

* * *

 

Kairi and Sora lay down next to each other in the grass, watching the clouds go by.

 

"Y'know..." Kairi began.

 

"Hmm?"

 

"I almost forgot how much I liked the Book of Pooh" she said. "Until I saw it again, through your eyes."

 

Sora blinked. "So you've seen it before? Been here before?"

 

"Yeah..."

 

"Back in Hollow Bastion? Before we met?"

 

"Mhm."

 

"Huh."

 

"...I'm so confused." Kairi said, turning over to face him.

 

"Bout what?" Sora asked, turning to face her in turn.

 

"Like. There's this whole other life I could have lived and. It's not like it would have been _bad_..." When she looked him in the eye, Sora nodded, prompting her to go on.

 

"But. But I never would have met you and Riku. I never would have known my mom, or any of our friends." She shook her head. "I love the life I have, but I still can't help but wonder what things could have been like."

 

"...You think that's where you'll end up?" Sora asked.

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"Well," Sora said. "They said everyone's going to go back to their homes where they're supposed to be, right? Where are you gonna be sent back to?"

 

Kairi narrowed her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere without you and Riku." she said fiercely.

 

Sora frowned and sat up, Kairi following suit. "Promise?"

 

Kairi nodded. "Promise."

 

They took each other's pinkies in their own and shook on it.

 

Sora started to stand up the rest of the way, and helped Kairi do the same, frowning when she started to wince a little. "The potions aren't helping with the cramps?"

 

She frowned and visibly bit back a retort. "No," she said simply. "Not permanently, at least."

 

Sora reached into his pockets and pulled out some of his elixirs. "You can take em. I insist," he said.

 

She blinked as the magical droughts were shoved into her hands and she scrambled to grab them and make sure she didn't drop or break or spill any.

 

"...Just don't tell Donald," Sora said with a wink.

 

She grinned back, her smile thin and watery.

 

* * *

 

 

The next portal was red. Which was ominous.

 

They stepped through into a hallway they had never seen before. At the other side was a large emblem.

 

The hallway was dark and ominous, but the tiling on the floors was strangely familiar.

 

Goofy approached the door in the middle of the hall, and it opened, revealing a much brighter chamber, at the back of which was a massive crystal globe with pipes running into it, infusing it with something. Kairi approached the instrument panel and flipped a switch.

 

A screen activated, with text appearing on it. Kairi looked at the others, and, in response to their shrugs, began to read.

 

_"Ones born of the heart and darkness, devoid of hearts, ravage all worlds and bring desolation."_

_"Seize all hearts and consummate the great heart. All hearts to be one, one heart to encompass all."_

_"Realize the destiny: the realm of Kingdom Hearts. The great darkness sealed within the great heart."_

_"P_ _rogeny of darkness, come back to the eternal darkness. For the heart of light shall unseal the path."_

_"Seven hearts, one Keyhole, one key to the door. The door of darkness, tied by two keys."_

_"The door to darkness to seal the light. None shall pass but shadows, returning to the darkness."_

_"One born of the heart and darkness, hunger for every heart until the dark door opens."_

 

Everyone stared.

 

"What the heck is 'Kingdom Hearts'?" Sora muttered.

 

* * *

 

 

 They floated down through a hole and found themselves in a swirling black sky, like the inside of a storm.

 

The only land they could see was a black, bald mountaintop.

 

Then the mountain cracked, parts of the peak shifting and moving, unfurling into a pair of wings, revealing arms, a torso and a head.

 

It's massive golden eyes shone, and it bared its teeth.

 

"What are you going to call this Heartless Jiminy?" Goofy asked.

 

Jiminy shrugged.

 

* * *

 

 

Chernabog god of night examined the five lights in his domain.

 

One with a small heart, weak, closed off, but full of dark. Stubborn, greedy, and proud. And filled with a temper that proved tempting. But, ultimately, somewhat weak-willed and cowardly. And, yet, in spite of all that, still full enough of light. Ultimately loyal, and, as fickle and as prickly or difficult as he may be, an incorruptible friend.

 

One that was simple, deceptively so. A stalwart protector of others, a leader, and a guide. A parent. A man who had lost the love of his life but kept going, who always thought the best and was optimistic, who could see through obfuscation, even if only because he didn't know what it meant.

 

A wielder of the key. It was not his own, or at least, it hadn't been, but perhaps something had changed. He was bright, but that light was fragile. His heart shared space with another, one fractured and broken. Much of his strength was not his own, but drawn from others. And he gave what little strength he had to anyone and everyone around him. He was spread too thin.

 

The chronicler would be easy to pass by, and ignore, small and quiet and unassuming as he was, but still. Appearances could be deceiving. Not that much deception would be going on where the conscience could help it. He had the potential to be a great nuisance or annoyance, or worse if his guidance was headed.

 

The last was so bright she was blinding. She had seduced Destiny, lured Her before the appointed time, their Embrace premature. More than that, her heart had come into contact with the heart of the boy beside her, and, after that, with the other six. She had not one key, but two, one her own, one formed of her own heart and those of the rest of the seven. Their hearts were one. She was not one light, but seven. No, she did not _have_ a key, she _was_ a key.

 

No, she wasn't just _a_ key, she was _the **χ**_. Half of it, at any rate.

 

If the boy was spread too thin, she was just the opposite.

 

Chernabog lifted his hands and called his spirits, the wailing damned trapped by night. A row of ghosts flew into the duck and grabbed him by the wings, dragging him down as the boy attempted to fight them off.

 

The girl slashed at his nose and landed on his crossed arms, holding up her weapon and yelling "MUSHU!" In a moment there was a small red lizard standing on her head as she faced the black god.

 

Chernabog breathed fire at the pair, and as she dodged under his stream, the lizard responded in kind, a stream of surprisingly strong fireballs crashing into the demon's head one after the other.

 

The black god lifted his arms, causing the mountain to erupt under him, sending the gnats flying back and away to avoid him.

 

He reached to grab the girl, but the knight intercepted his hand and struck his thumb.

 

Finally, the two children held their keyblades together, and pierced him with a shining ray of light.

 

Chernabog fell backwards, the flames of his mountain erupting once more in darkness, bright blue and purple flames consuming him, as he howled.

 

 _This is embarrassing_ , he thought.

 

* * *

 

 

 

After passing through a series of caves filled with bits of devoured worlds (all of which Kairi had _recognized_ ), they entered another large cavern, and found another Behemoth.

 

"Graviza!"

 

"Graviga!"

 

"Light!"

 

"Hyuck!"

 

Well, it _was_ another Behemoth at any rate. For a few seconds.

 

Sora's keyblade soaring through the air and the creature's horn finally put an end to that.

 

"Hey, look!" Kairi pointed. A piece of the heart-shaped crest at the end of the cavern shattered and vanished, revealing a small chamber on the other side.

 

"We've just got to destroy these Heartless to get through, right?"

 

Then the Darkballs and Invisibles showed up.

 

"Simba!" Sora called, as the lion appeared in a cloud of smoke.

 

Sora stood beside Simba and, as the two crouched, Simba roared and Sora amplified it with his keyblade.

 

The Heartless were annihilated in an instant. More appeared, and Sora and Simba destroyed them, over and over, one after another.

 

Suddenly, a series of shockwaves along the ground knocked the lion over and caused him to disperse, an orange cloud that retreated back into the summon gem.

 

The Heartless responsible for these shockwaves were new.

 

They were humanoid, with large claws and wide foreheads terminating in a pair of sideways antenna that curved downwards.

 

They were spinning in the air for a moment, then they all zoomed forward, one after the other, bodyslamming Sora and Kairi into the walls.

 

Kairi swung at one, and it melted into the floor, zooming around her and coming up again to slash rapidly at her back.

 

Goofy deflected one as it spun sideways in a roundhouse kick, then was stunned and pulled backwards as one underneath him came partially out of the floor, gripping his shoes tightly as another one dove towards him in a dropkick.

 

"Flare!" Donald called, bombarding the enemies with sparklers.

 

Sora slashed through one of them, then another, and the ones remaining melted into the floor, coming up again with more of them.

 

Kairi yelled, and grabbing Goofy by the arm, she spun through a pair of the creatures, before raising her keyblade into the air and surrounding herself with light as they all flew towards her.

 

The last one jumped into the air, and Sora and Kairi lunged towards it, cutting it from both sides.

 

The last part of the crest had come apart, and the group trudged towards it, and came through the other side to see a room with sand flowing out of the walls as well as a large pink door. There were even a few plants.

 

Sora stared at it for a long moment, then blinked and started looking around.

 

"Huh?" Sora said.

 

"What's wrong?" Donald asked. Kairi looked at him with concern.

 

"Don’t you hear something?" Sora asked, before looking up and shouting "There!"

 

The others looked around, as Sora listened intently.

 

"I don’t hear anything." Donald said.

 

Sora looked at Kairi, and she had to shake her head.

 

"Strange..." Sora muttered. "That voice was so familiar. Maybe it’s just my imagination."

 

"Maybe you'd better take a rest," Donald suggested.

 

"We just rested thoooouuuu-" Sora paused and struggled to stifle a yawn.

 

Kairi smiled and the two sat against one of the crystals, as Goofy reached into his pocket. "Aerith gave me some goodies," he said, pulling out a small bundle.

 

"When did she give you that?" Sora reached out as Goofy unwrapped the paper and ribbon.

 

"Back in Hollow Bastion!"

 

"I want one!" Kairi snatched a few of the cookies for herself and stuffed her face until her cheeks puffed out.

 

"Nice and sweet!" said Donald with his beak full.

 

"Not as good as those bananas in Deep Jungle," Kairi commented.

 

"When did you find bananas?!"

 

"Hey!" Jiminy yelled. "Those last Heartless gave us some Stormy Stones and Gales! We've still got more to do!"

 

The others ignored him as they chewed and chatted, reminiscing about their adventure.

 

* * *

 

 

Eventually, they stood, and Sora reached out and pulled open the door.

 

The light beyond was blinding, and when they could see again, they were standing on a white sandy beach beneath a brilliant blue sky.

 

"It's the islands!" Kairi shouted as she and Sora ran about. The same island where they had always played.

 

But the trees were gone. And the waterfall was dried up.

 

They approached the secret place, and a deep voice rang out.

 

"This world has been connected..."

 

Goofy looked around. "What was that!?" The islet by the beachside shack vanished in an instant.

 

"Tied to the darkness..." the voice continued, as the tree fort rampart they'd built on the side of the island disappeared, leaving empty ocean.

 

"Soon to be completely eclipsed..."

 

Sora gasped as the ocean turned purple, no, black, even.

 

"There is so very much to learn. You understand so little."

 

The ground shook, and the edge of the beach started to lift and crack.

 

"A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand _nothing_."

 

* * *

 

 He grinned, stretching the mouth of his stolen body as he heard the footsteps behind him.

 

"Take a look at this tiny place," he jeered, spreading his arms wide. He thought of the foolish boy ( _boys, at least two_ ) who had stood on this shore. "To the heart seeking freedom," ( _hearts, plural, including his own, the hearts that he used to be)_ "this island is a _prison_. Surrounded by water."

 

He couldn't keep the mockery or mirth out of his voice any longer. "And so this _boy_ ," ( _these boys, their prison)_ "Sought out to escape from his prison. He sought a way to cross over into other worlds. And he opened his heart to darkness."

 

"Riku!" a pair of voices called.

 

He grinned wider as he turned, shifting the bones and muscles, patching this borrowed form together with the darkness, remolding it, remaking it.

 

"Don't bother," he mocked. "Your voice can no longer reach him where he is. His heart belongs again to darkness."

 

He stared down the boy reaching at him, then noticed the girl next to him.

 

He blinked. She wasn't supposed to be here.

 

* * *

 

 

"...All worlds begin in darkness. And all so end. The heart," he paused here and looked at Kairi maliciously " _Real_ hearts are no different. Darkness sprouts within it, grows, consumes it."

 

He vanished, and they spun to look at him behind them. "In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came!"

 

"You see, darkness, is the heart's true essence!"

 

"That's not true!" Sora shouted.

 

"The heart may be weak, and sometimes, it may even give in. But I've learned that deep down there's a light that never goes out!"

 

Ansem crossed his arms and rose into the air. "So you have come this far, and still you understand nothing. Every light must fade, every heart return to darkness!"

 

 His shadow started gaining depth, erupting from his feet surrounded by darkness, turning into a black Heartless with bandages covering its mouth.

 

Kairi jumped and slashed at him with her Oathkeeper, and Ansem shouted "Come Guardian!" as the Heartless appeared in front of him and her blows only bounced off of its chest.

 

"Mushu!" Sora yelled, summoning the guardian dragon to counter Ansem's own protector.

 

Ansem stared at the tiny dragon for a moment, before a stream of fireballs impacted his face.

 

He growled, and his guardian started slinging razor discs of energy and darkness as he laughed wildly, Kairi protecting Sora with her barrier as Mushu continued to assault Ansem with fireball after fireball.

 

Finally Ansem growled and vanished, flying towards the Secret Place as they ran after him. Suddenly, the island started shaking again, the trees uprooting, vanishing or twisting into gnarled walls, until finally the center of the island was replaced with a gnarled purple dome.

 

Sora and Kairi charged into the gap ahead of the others, who ended up falling backwards as a barrier sealed the entrance.

 

An enormous purple shadow rose from the ground, one of the largest pureblood Heartless, the Darkside.

 

The same as the one from the islands.

 

It punched its fist down into the ground, as Sora and Kairi dodged out of the way.

 

"Like I told you the last time!" Kairi cried. "The eyes!"

 

Sora nodded. "Right!"

 

The two dodged around the Shadows and ran up the arm, slicing at the creature's face as many times as they could.

 

Its hand curled underneath it into a massive sphere of dark energy, as it stood up and released the power into the air, raining down sparks of darkness seemingly endlessly.

 

Kairi growled and spun around before swinging her keyblade shining with light into the giant's heel. It collapsed forward, its face falling towards Sora as he slashed upwards in a backflip, the giant Heartless instantly dispersing into a dark cloud.

 

As the beast faded away a dark portal appeared, Ansem and his Guardian arriving smugly.

 

"Take this," he said as he flew forward with a shining shield around him which Kairi blocked with her own barrier.

 

"You insolent little... SUBMIT!" he snarled and Kairi gasped as the Heartless plunged its hand into her body and disappeared.

 

She blinked up at him, feeling the dark chill in her and around her, and jumped up to attack him when the Guardian reappeared and grabbed her around the shoulders as Ansem grinned.

 

"Come, open your Heart," he said as he spread his arms and a shining golden field surrounded him, burning and shocking at Kairi as he flew forward to embrace her. Thankfully Sora threw his keyblade at Ansem's face in time to distract him, before firing beams of golden energy at the silver-haired man that exploded as they impacted his coat.

 

The guardian let go of Kairi and returned to Ansem as he and the Heartless both started glowing. "My strength returns!" he said, and his Guardian vanished as he dismissed it.

 

Sora and Kairi blinked dumbly at each other as as a pool of darkness appeared under their feet, and Ansem's guardian erupted from it, grabbing both teenagers by the face as it flew into the air, a shockwave erupting around it as it emerged, before it turned and came back down, slamming both of them into the ground, knocking out Kairi instantly. Sora struggled to put her on his shoulders as the Guardian disappeared again, then rolled over the guardian as it appeared under them again, this time avoiding being grabbed by the creature.

 

Ansem grinned with his arms crossed, darkness radiating from him in waves as he taunted Sora. "What do you hope to accomplish?" he asked.

 

Sora ignored the man's words as he avoided the shockwave and tried to keep Kairi's head from bumping anymore against the ground. "Do not deny your fear!" Ansem commanded, before summoning his Guardian back to him.

 

"The final darkness is nigh!" Ansem declared, sending out shockwaves of energy from himself in a cross or an "x" that Sora barely stopped before running into.

 

Sora turned and ran towards Ansem once more, Kairi bouncing limply from his back as the guardian's hands glowed and it threw a pair of energy waves forward. Sora rolled in the middle of the attack, and struck Ansem in the chin with his keyblade's teeth. Ansem grunted, and the world turned black.

 

The barrier was gone, (and so was the ground, and the sky) and Sora was reunited with Goofy and Donald, who quickly pulled out his staff and cast "Curaga!" causing Kairi to stir once again.

 

"Wha!" Kairi started as she awoke, and Ansem's voice rang out clearly.

 

"Behold! The endless abyss! Within it lies the heart of all worlds: **KINGDOM HEARTS!"**

 

They looked, and in the black they could see a white door, on a grey, dusty path, an even blacker blackness behind it in the shape of a heart.

 

"Look as hard as you are able! You'll not find even the smallest glimmer of light! From those dark depths are all hearts born! Even yours!"

 

Sora looked down and gasped, and they all saw what he did, as they noticed a massive fleshy ship, a horrible dark monster at the top with tubes from its belly connecting to Ansem's back.

 

 _ **"DARKNESS CONQUERS ALL WORLDS!"**_ Ansem screamed in ecstasy, as the unseen ground beneath them finally stopped supporting them and they each fell towards a red mist that swallowed Donald and Goofy.

 

Suddenly, Kairi felt a voice ringing within her heart.  _Geez Kai, you're gonna let me and Sora do all the work again?_ She shook her head and _believed_ and she _flew_ , faith and trust and pixie dust trailing behind her with Sora at her side.

 

Ansem's eyes were pure orange now, without any whites, and he, no, _it_ held the same sword that Riku had used, only joined at the hilt to an identical blade.

 

"Return to Darkness!" it yelled as it spun the blade around it, and Kairi flew towards Ansem and parried its wild slashes, and Sora pointed his keyblade at the body thief. "Firaga!" Sora yelled as he blasted their enemy with one fire spell after another, each impact burning against its ribs, and Ansem backhanded Kairi away before raising its hand.

 

"All shall be extinguished," it said as purple circles surrounded them and fired lasers that Sora and Kairi ducked and dove and swooped over and around, and tiny flying Heartless tried to attack them only to get destroyed as they flew into the lasers.

 

Sora and Kairi flew towards it again and slapped their weapons at its sides before flying away again as it summoned more lasers.

 

Kairi raised her barrier and managed to reflect all of the lasers so that they all hit Ansem at once, causing it to cry out. The massive guardian drew Ansem into its belly and a Heartless crest appeared, shielding the seeker from further attack.

 

Sora and Kairi looked around, as a scarlet cloud appeared in a hole on the ship. "Heeeeeelllp!" came a familiar cry from it.

 

"Goofy!"

 

They flew in and found a dark, empty space with countless Heartless, Goofy struggling to fight them off himself.

 

"Sora! Kairi!" he cried gratefully, as they flew in and started attacking the Heartless, finishing them so they couldn't continue to respawn like when felled by Goofy's weapon.

 

"Where's Donald?" Kairi asked, as Sora knocked a Darkball to the ground beside her.

 

"I don't know! I can't find him anywhere!" Goofy said, jumping over a rushing opponent biting continuously and relentlessly. As they struck down this last Heartless they grabbed Goofy and flew out, to the front of the battleship, where a massive and disgusting pink face glared at them with golden Heartless eyes.

 

"Waaaaak!" cried a voice from inside the face's mouth. Kairi flew towards the source but the face bit at her, and when Sora tried to catch her it summoned lightning all around them.

 

"Yahooey!" Goofy called as he slammed his shield into one of the eyes, distracting it, and allowing Sora and Kairi to attack.

 

"Aeroga! Aeroga! Aeroga!" Sora cast thrice before drinking an elixir, looking at Kairi. The two nodded at each other, before zooming in to attack.

 

Sora stood on the top of its 'head' and attacked it relentlessly and furiously, while Kairi slapped at its chin so hard she spun around each time, both keybearers covered in wind.

 

Suddenly, there was a crackle of magic in the air that made Goofy's hair stand on end. "Everyone get back!" he called, pulling Kairi by the shoulders as she tried to keep up the assault. The air around them distorted and sound rippled, and from the mouth came the unmistakable quack of a single word, distorted by power.

 

_**"ULTIZA!"** _

 

There was an enormous explosion of light and dark and everything inbetween, Sora barely escaping from the initial blast and barely conscious after the backwash. He crashed into Kairi and Goofy and they both tried to force him to drink an elixir.

 

Where the face had been was now a twisted and mangled stump, in front of which floated Donald Duck, his feathers red with his rage, and every inch of him singed and charred, the zipper on his hat had melted, and even his staff was so damaged it was unrecognizable.

 

A bunch of Invisibles reformed around the court mage, even his magic unable to completely destroy them permanently. But they stared at him seeming to shiver and even cower, parts of them missing and broken, their horns, wings or swords bent or burnt or severed.

 

Donald smiled at them, his eyes flashing dangerously and dilated hugely, his irises having grown as well showing off their green coloring, his many rows of sharp fanged teeth making his mouth look like a shark's, light glinting off of them like diamonds.

 

The Invisibles instantly disappeared in corridors of darkness, the uncomfortable but unmistakable scent of fear lingering in the air.

 

Donald flew up towards the battleship's center without a word, sparks of magic and electricity coursing around him as he flew towards the battleship's core.

 

They hung back and watched as he swung the remaining half of his staff furiously at the blob, all four of them wincing as the odd face did when it bounced around.

 

"Donald needs therapy," Jiminy muttered, noting the fact down in his journal. Sora, Kairi and Goofy glanced at each other, remembering the ways Jiminy had bit them and hounded them and heckled and cursed at them until they'd 'completed' everything, travelling all the way back to Traverse Town and then all the way back to The End Of The World several times until they had synthesized Every. Possible. Thing.

 

Mayhap the conscience doth protest too much.

 

Sora discretely threw his keyblade at the poor core so it would be destroyed completely, instead of being brought back endlessly only to suffer more at Donald's hands.

 

Donald stared at him and flew forward faster then they could see, snapping in Sora's face. Then Donald flew up as they heard Ansem yell.

 

"Come... Darkness!" it cried, color and light fading as all was drawn towards a massive orb of red and black energy.

 

Donald continued flying at Ansem but was caught in the pull, squawking furiously and madly as darkness leaked off of him and into the abyss.

 

 **"YOU _GODDA-!_ "** Goofy covered Sora and Kairi's ears then uncovered them.

 

 **"MOTHER _FFFUUUU_** _-!_ " he covered their ears again.

 

When he released them the next few times, or they fought him off they were able to catch **"NIG-!"** , **"BAS-"**   **"SONOFA _BI-!_ "**,  **"RETAR-!"** , **"CUN-!"** and **"COC-!"** and **"SUCK-!"** before finally they shrugged him off and ducked under and around him, ignoring the dog knight and fowl-mouthed wizard to attack Ansem.

 

Donald continued to struggle against the vacuum as Ansem ignored the two children, grinning widely. "Now, you weak-hearted **FOOLS** , witness **real** power!"

 

The vortex exploded around Donald sending blasts of energy in every direction.

 

Goofy flew to catch Donald, assuming him to be injured or unconscious, only for his avian friend to bowl him over, furiously blasting Ansem with spell after spell, casting the ultimate magical attack Ultiza repeatedly, more than any wizard could or indeed should, his rage keeping him going despite all odds.

 

When the smoke and magical haze cleared, Ansem stood there, seemingly none the worse for wear, glaring at the wizard contemptuously with disgust. Donald groaned and slumped forward, unconsciousness finally claiming him. Goofy sighed in relief and pulled out one of the last elixirs, before swooping to grab the duck and pull him to safety.

 

Then Sora smashed the handguard of Ultima Weapon on the top of Ansem's head as Kairi swung the keyblade of heart between his legs.

 

Light shone from Ansem's chest and there was an explosion, the battleship and heartless around all vanishing as they were annihilated.

 

* * *

 

 

"It is futile. The keyblade alone cannot seal the door to darkness." The words were reverberating through the door.

 

 _ **"KINGDOM HEARTS!**_ FILL ME WITH THE POWER OF _**DARKNESS!**_ "

 

He looked up in despair. The door was opening. They'd failed.

 

 _Don't worry_ , the voice of the King said.

 

"SUPREME DARKNESS!" Ansem called from the other side.

 

"You're wrong," came that familiar voice, and he grinned at the chance to hear it again.

 

"I know now, without a doubt! Kingdom Hearts is _light!"_

 

The distant, gentle welcoming light from somewhere around and deep behind them, lost here in the darkness as they were, shone through the door as it opened the tiniest crack, and he grinned as it finally blasted like a laser, eliminating that pathetic Heartless once and for all.

 

He could see it explode through the gap, and grinned as its remains traveled through and surrounded him, his form growing more substantial than it had been since he had been sent here-

 

Then Riku groaned, fell forward and threw up as his brain caught up to the injuries to his body, his head aching and his groin feeling like something had been broken.

 

His best friends could have pulled their punches a _little_ bit.

 

He panted and retched for a moment, until slowly he caught up with everything, as he heard them straining and pulling at the door.

 

"I can't!" he heard that adorably clueless voice utter and he had to roll his eyes at that fact.

 

He staggered to his feet, and lunged forward, grabbing the nearest edge partly to help move it shut and partly to support himself.

 

"Don't give up!" Riku yelled at them. "Together, we can do it! Just like the raft!" he tried to smile at the two of them, as they stared back at him in shock.

 

"Okay!" Sora said, and Kairi nodded and seemed about to say something before she grit her teeth and _pushed_ , the door budging as Riku helped them pull it back into place.

 

Then Riku felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, the cold creeping sensation that he more than recognized by now.

 

"It's hopeless!" Donald cried, and for a moment, Riku considered asking whether the duck was alright, considering the mangled state of its feathers, but then decided it'd be awkward as he thought of all the ways to ask a bird he didn't know that well, then just kept pulling.

 

He heard the Heartless rise up behind him, then heard them explode as the king he'd just met hopped up to the top of the mushroom like platforms, the animals crying "Your majesty!" out of shock and joy.

  
"Now, Sora! Let's close this door for good!" the King squeaked, and Riku couldn't help but think the voice somewhat less majestic than the one he'd been hearing in his mind up till now.

 

"Close it! Quick!" Donald said.

 

"But..." Sora and Kairi said at once.

 

"Don't worry!" the King reassured. "There will always be a door to the light."

 

"You guys can trust King Mickey." Goofy said.

 

Riku blinked as Kairi grabbed his wrist, her arm reaching through the door (was that even possible? His body sure didn't feel like it could. Maybe it was just their hearts that couldn't cross?) She stared at him with tears and snot running down her face pleading. He winced at the small amount of blood around her legs and torso, wincing again as he realized the calendar date. He couldn't imagine her having to fight like this. He was the one who had put them through this, had put _her_ through this. Trying to help her, he'd just caused her more trouble.

 

And he'd tried to kill _Sora,_ had hated  _him_ so much that-

 

He looked back at King Mickey as he remembered the darkness all around them meant his self-loathing had to wait. "Now! They're coming!"

 

King Mickey Mouse smiled at his friends through the door. "Donald, Goofy, thank you."

 

Kairi's grip remained on his arm and he tried to fight her off so they could _close the door, dammit_. "Please," she finally begged, her voice choking through in a sob, her breath ragged. She shook her head from side to side, and tears shone on Sora's cheeks just as Riku knew they must have been on his own. "Not without you," she finally said.

 

Riku smiled sadly as he looked at the two of them, Kairi's grip faltered for a moment and he used that opportunity to kiss her hand and squeeze it before letting go.

 

"Take care of each other," he said simply. Smiling at them. They nodded weakly, and Sora started to blubber now as the door finally swung shut.

 

It had always been them, the two of them, goofing off together, drawing on the walls, being lazy on the beach. This entire journey they'd been together the whole time. So close that they'd shared each other's heart.

 

They didn't need _him_ , he told himself.

 

He kept telling himself that even as the two keyblades sealed the door and it disappeared in front of them.

 

He tried to ignore the memory of the look in their eyes, of forgiveness, trust, even love and desire.

* * *

 

 

(Riku realized he was lying the moment he noticed the thalassa shell Wayfinder she'd managed to slip into his grip.)

 

* * *

 

 

"...Well, now what do we do?" Donald grumbled as they walked along the endless green hills and fields.

 

"We've gotta find Riku and King Mickey," Sora said.

 

"But, uh..." Goofy thought aloud, "Where do we start lookin' for that door to the light?"

 

Kairi considered summoning her keyblade of heart, and using it to open a door, but. Wasn't sure whether it would end up being the right one.

 

She looked at Donald, and then Goofy, and then Sora, and they all looked at each other.

 

All four heaved a sigh of exhaustion.

 

A brown dog wagging his tail crossed the path ahead of them.

 

"Pluto?" Donald wondered.

 

Pluto stood there with a letter in his mouth, a trio of circles shaped like a mouse's head on the envelope.

 

"Is that?" Kairi wondered.

 

"It's the King's seal!"

 

"Hey, have you seen King Mickey?" Sora asked the dog.

 

Pluto looked at them, then looked away and started running away from them.

 

"Hey wait!" Sora called, and the four started laughing as they chased after it.

 

For a moment, Sora thought he heard a voice, but noone was there, so he kept running after the pooch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jiminy's forms are based on [Jiminy Cricket Form Changes](http://lynxgriffin.deviantart.com/art/Jiminy-Cricket-Form-Changes-177227281) by LynxGriffin.
> 
> Kairi's Atlantica form is inspired by [Under the Sea 1](http://amyhayanora.deviantart.com/art/Under-the-sea-276468236) and [Under the Sea 2](http://amyhayanora.deviantart.com/art/Under-the-sea-2-276630389) by AmyHayaNora. I like the idea of alternate tails for merpeople, and I don't think I'd seen jellyfish before, and it looked neat.
> 
> Her Halloween Town form is based on [Kingdom Hearts Halloween Town](http://kingdomjade.deviantart.com/art/Kingdom-Hearts-Halloween-Town-187984715) by KingdomJade, apparently based on the a painting by a DA user named neonclover. neonclover doesn't use their DA account anymore, and the original fanart isn't in their gallery at the time when I looked. In my professional work I would prefer to use better cited and sourced sources, but. All the other designs for Kairi in Halloween Town I found are based on KHII Kairi, and this is KH1.
> 
> Also, that design had three belts, so I'm pretty sure it wins by default.
> 
> Donald Duck with teeth looks like [this](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ujPvuDHLeh0/VFJym3csMOI/AAAAAAAAXRk/NnvPP4r-JmA/s1600/donald%2Bduck%2Bhalloween.gif). Originally from the cartoon "Trombone Trouble". Terrifying.
> 
> So! Anyway! This fic is done! 
> 
> What did you like!?
> 
> What did you hate!?
> 
> This is the end of this particular story, but not the end of Sora, Goofy, Kairi and Donald's journeys!
> 
> Or the journeys of Riku and the King, for that matter!
> 
> Talk to me about this story in the comments!
> 
> The next story is going to be "Chains of the Waves!" and I'm already working on it!
> 
> I'm basically writing this series chronologically. Or trying to.


End file.
